Skip to content
Souwester Spirits
Our founder, Danielle Costley, is an internationally acclaimed wine and food writer who has spent the last twenty years tasting wines, traversing through vineyards, picking grapes and learning what makes a fine wine. Whilst studying winemaking, Danielle discovered a passion for distillation – in particular, barrel aged spirits.
As a member of the Margaret River Whisky Club, Danielle has always had a penchant for single malt whiskies and of course, a love of gin. But it wasn’t until Danielle discovered Ice Pressed Chardonnay from Fraser Gallop Estate, that her foray into the world of distillation was born. With no other winery in the world making this rare dessert style wine, Danielle quickly secured the barrels and started experimenting with barrel-aged gin and whisky.
While Danielle was writing her book, Beyond the Farm Gate: a culinary journey through Australia’s South West, she was introduced to a range of locally grown botanicals. Wanting to create spirits that truly harnessed the flavours of the South West region where she lives, Danielle began sourcing these native botanicals and tested them in her barrel aged gin.
There’s been a fair amount of sampling along the way, but what you can taste with her first release small-batch gin is a pure spirit that’s been distilled six times before being aged in Margaret River dessert wine barrels.
“The South West region of Western Australia is a veritable food bowl with local produce, which is complemented by its pristine environment. When you sip on this gin, I want it to conjure up images of this special part of the world,” she says.
“Barrels are such an integral part of the whisky maturation process. Ageing the single malt in Ice Pressed Chardonnay barrels not only makes our whisky unique, but it also pays homage to the magnificent Margaret River wine region where we are based. The Chardonnays produced here are among the best in the world. Maturing our whisky in a dessert Chardonnay barrel further embodies the flavours of the region,” Danielle adds.
More dessert wine barrels from Margaret River are filled with our next batch of spirits, further imparting an entirely different flavour spectrum from the lusciously rich Cane Cut Semillon the barrels previously housed.
While the whisky continues its leisurely maturation period in barrel on the coast in Margaret River, the gin is now ready for release.
We hope you enjoy our journey – one swirl, sip or dram at a time.