Currant in Madeira Cask

Blackcurrant aged in Madeira casks – from Manufaktur Geiger

The Manufaktur Geiger Blackcurrant aged in Madeira casks is a fruit brandy made from blackcurrants from the Swabian Alb, matured in wooden casks. The soft and sweet aromas of the Madeira cask impart balanced, spicy notes to the dark-berried blackcurrant. In terms of taste, this brandy reveals dark berry fruit aromatics, wild berries, raspberries, liquorice, dark chocolate, stalky and pomace-like accents, earthy, green-leafy, grassy-mossy notes, nettle, menthol-mint, delicate elderflower, pleasant fruit acidity, medicinal-quince, iodine-petrol notes, and a slight bitterness. Presented in high-quality gift packaging, this spirit makes a noble gift for fruit brandy connoisseurs.

How the Geiger Blackcurrant aged in Madeira casks is made

In addition to fruit juices and liqueurs, distillates are also produced from the blackcurrant. A concentrate can even be extracted from some of the buds, giving perfumes a special, fruity note. In terms of intensity and aroma, the blackcurrant is the flagship of the berry family; even its leaves are fragrant. In its distilled form, the variety of aromas presents itself as particularly dark-berry fruity and juicy, with many green, grassy, and stalky components.

For this specialty, Jörg Geiger only selects blackcurrants grown in the fields of the Läpple family in Hattenhofen, in the foothills of the Swabian Alb, mostly on Jurassic shale soils. The Läpples grow the approximately six hectares of blackcurrants exclusively for our manufactory. Every year, Jörg Geiger guarantees his farmer that he will purchase all harvested fruit. This allows him to distill this single-varietal brandy in years with a large harvest. He requires 50 kilograms of blackcurrants for one liter of pure distillate after the rough and fine distillation. As a youthful distillate with a rather short aftertaste, the maturation in wooden casks is the reason for the long finish.

The Madeira casks used have been filled five times. Selected red wines are stored for three to five months, or even several years, under heat exposure between 45 °C and 75 °C in appropriately heated warehouses or under corrugated iron roofs. This storage in the heat leads to the special concentration and the typical flavor profile of Madeira wines. After our distillate has matured for at least three years in the Madeira cask, the floral, dark-berry fragrance combines with the fantastically sweet notes on the finish, which lingers on the palate with light bitter notes.

Manufaktur Geiger – Brandies from the sweet wine cask

The Manufaktur Jörg Geiger is located in the small municipality of Schlat, eight kilometers southeast of Göppingen in the middle of the Swabian Alb. This is the home of Jörg Geiger and his manufactory, set in a cultural landscape characterized by mountainous forests, juniper heaths, and meadow orchards with fruit trees that are sometimes over 100 years old.

The youthful-looking Jörg Geiger grew up in his parents' restaurant, the over 300-year-old Gasthof Lamm. In addition to the thriving restaurant, his father ran a small distillery. There, he produced single-varietal distillates, such as the Stuttgarter Gaishirtle – a true rarity made from an old pear variety. The passion for distilling and preserving old varieties was passed down from father to son. Jörg Geiger has continued to run the inn and the fruit distillery since 1994. Even though he has become known for the sparkling wine made from the "Champagner Bratbirne" pear and his non-alcoholic Prisecco, his fruit brandies also deserve attention. Like these special sweet wines made from the fruit of Swabian meadow orchards, self-distilled fruit brandies like this blackcurrant aged in Madeira casks, and plenty of peace and time to mature in old wooden barrels.