Overview
If you like sipping Four Pillars' bloody gin, the distillery doubled your drinking options when winter 2023 rolled around. Last year, it didn't just make its bloody excellent Bloody Shiraz Gin, as it has annually since 2015. In addition, it also debuted a brand-new Bloody Pinot Noir Gin. Yes, the drop gives another grape variety the bloody treatment. Yes, it was popular.
When winter 2024 started approaching, Four Pillars announced the return of its shiraz option; however, there was no sign of its other bloody tasty limited-edition wine-infused concoction for another vintage. Until now, that is, with the brand waiting until the thick of the cold weather to reveal that this too is a Bloody Pinot Noir Gin year.
How much of a hit was the first vintage? It sold out in less than a week. So, if you're keen to add 2024's to your gin shrine, you'd best mark a few dates in your diary. It goes on sale around the country on Tuesday, August 13 — via the Four Pillars website, plus Four Pillars Distillery at Healesville in Victoria and the Four Pillars Lab in Surry Hills in Sydney — but you can get your hands on some from Wednesday, August 7 if you're a Four Pillars subscriber.
2024's tipple wasn't always a certainty. "When we had some early rain in the season, we weren't quite sure we'd be able to pull it off," explains Four Pillars Co-founder and Head Distiller Cameron Mackenzie.
"But lo and behold, 2024 is pretty bloody good pinot. It also helps we don't just get grapes from one place. We source from a couple of vineyards and use multiple clones to get a more complex gin at the end. The only downside is we can only get so much of it."
Like its shiraz sibling, the Bloody Pinot Noir Gin sources its fruit from Yarra Valley again, from Yarra Station and Upper Ngumby. The end result is lighter, brighter in colour, and with rhubarb, strawberry and rose petal notes. This vintage underwent a new process, soaking entire pinot bunches in Four Pillars' high-proof Rare Dry Gin for seven weeks, then pressing them and blending in more Rare Dry Gin.
The best way to drink it? Four Pillars recommends using it in gin and soda, with just a squeeze of lemon and a lemon slice as a garnish. Head to the distillery's website for a few other cocktail ideas, too, including the Pinot Colada and the Pinot Blush.
The 2024 Four Pillars Bloody Pinot Noir Gin will go on sale around the country on Tuesday, August 13, or on Wednesday, August 7 if you're a Four Pillars subscriber. Head to the Four Pillars website to make a purchase — or hit up the Four Pillars Distillery at Healesville, Victoria and the Four Pillars Lab in Surry Hills, Sydney.