Rochelt : Wild Raspberry 2018

Characteristics and Tasting Notes for Framboise des Bois 2018 Rochelt

Tasting Color
Following its meticulous distillation process, this spirit appears clear and bright. Nose
Remarkably intense, the nose unfolds refined notes of fresh raspberry, slightly tangy and almost floral in their elegance. It evokes the delightful sensation of stepping into a warehouse brimming with raspberries ripened under the summer sun. In the background, subtle secondary aromas of lemon cake, sweet cinnamon and spearmint reveal themselves. Adding just a drop of water renders it slightly cloudy and unveils an additional aromatic sweetness. Palate
The attack is lively and wonderfully fresh, expressing the very essence of raspberry with a precision and lightness that come close to perfect balance. The mid-palate proves fascinating and complex: it offers a grippy texture marked by citrus notes and lemon zest, along with a touch of bitterness reminiscent of raspberry leaf, rounded out by hints of nuts and seeds. The high alcohol content, though softened by the years, delivers a pleasant and comforting sense of warmth. The finish is long, clean and resolutely dry, lingering on notes of fresh raspberries and flowers, with no residual sweetness whatsoever. Food Pairing Tips and Tasting Moments In the purest European tradition, this eau-de-vie is enjoyed as a digestif at the end of a meal, aiding digestion thanks to its natural fruit acids. For an optimal, contemplative tasting experience, it is recommended to serve it at room temperature (around 15°C) in tulip-shaped glasses, filled with just one to two centiliters. It should be sipped slowly to fully appreciate its complexity. Adding a little water, still or slightly sparkling, allows the intensity to be adjusted and reveals unsuspected aromatic layers. Mixology The distillery explicitly advises against using this exceptional spirit in cocktails. Adding ice or mixers would irreversibly compromise the fruit's delicate character and the complexity gained during its long maturation. It is intended to be enjoyed pure, without any artifice. Other Characteristics Bottled at 52% alcohol by volume, this spirit is never filtered in order to preserve the full extent of its natural character. It is made from 100% pure fruit, with all of its alcohol coming exclusively from the fermentation of the sugars naturally present in the berries, with no external alcohol added.

Rochelt: The Excellence of Artisanal Eau-de-Vie from Tyrol, Austria

The Rochelt Distillery and Its Family Heritage Officially founded in 1989 by Günter Rochelt after years of passionate experimentation in a Tyrolean garage, the Rochelt distillery is located in Fritzens, Austria. Born of a fierce determination to stand against the industrialization of spirits, the house has made it a guiding principle to use only fruit of exceptional quality, harvested at perfect ripeness. Today, Alexander Rainer, who trained for many years under the founder, leads the estate. He is supported in this mission by the three Rochelt daughters: Julia, Annia and Teresa. This family structure ensures the continuation of rigorous artisanal production methods: natural fermentation without additives, traditional double distillation and a uniquely prolonged aging process in open glass demijohns. Rochelt thus embodies the pinnacle of Alpine craftsmanship, refusing any compromise on quality. The Meticulous Crafting of the Framboise des Bois 2018 The Framboise des Bois expression from the 2018 vintage perfectly illustrates the distillery's philosophy of absolute rigor. This raspberry eau-de-vie is crafted exclusively from wild raspberries, hand-picked at their peak ripeness in the Carpathian forests of Romania and on Mount Ida in Turkey. Unlike cultivated varieties, these wild berries offer markedly superior aromatic complexity and natural character. Producing these eaux-de-vie requires an astonishing quantity of raw material: between sixty and eighty kilograms of fresh raspberries are needed to produce just a single liter of finished distillate. The fresh fruit, processed immediately, undergoes natural fermentation with no chemical intervention whatsoever, followed by a meticulous double distillation in which only the "heart" of the run is carefully preserved. The 2018 vintage then underwent four to six years of aging in open glass demijohns. This slow oxidation process allows the alcohol to evaporate while concentrating the fruit's aromas. Finally, this exceptional spirit is presented in an iconic 35-centiliter flask: a green glass bottle shaped like a pincer, inspired by 18th-century Tyrolean craftsmanship and redesigned by the artist Alfred Ecker, crowned with an elegant stopper crafted by goldsmith Otto Jakob.