Johnny Zieglar Senior Fruit Brandy

The word pioneer conjures up memories of school trips to the local pioneer village. There you would hear tales of settlers in the new world. Back then, chickens scratched around the dilapidated log cabin looking for food before they became dinner themselves. Father chopped wood for leisure when he wasn’t ploughing fields. Mother cooked wild game and baked bread 23 hours a day. That other hour was spent procreating.

They had enough children to fill the roster of a baseball team and spawned quicker than little Jebadiah could churn butter. And if someone took a picture of the family, rather than smile they’d stare at the camera like it was a tool of Satan.

But, the pioneers of Canadian microdistilling, like Winergarden Estates, paint a different picture. It’s a tale of Werner Rosswog taking old German traditions then jumping on New Brunswick’s bureaucratic treadmill to bring antiquated provincial distilling laws into a new century.

There’s no log cabin at Winegarden. Instead there’s a distillery with gleaming stills. And distiller Roswitha Rosswog didn’t spend her days in a kitchen, unless you count cooking fruit mash that she then distilled into schnapps, eau-de-vie, brandy and liqueurs. And when someone takes their picture, you’re damn right they to smile with pride. The Rosswog’s overcame incredible odds and have a spirit’s portfolio that gives imbibers a reason to beam. Their children, Elke and Steffen, now carry on the family tradition in their Johnny Ziegler Senior Brandy.

This fruit brandy is distilled from a variety of fruits has been aged in oak for at least ten years. Fresh apple brightens the nose with mild oak and fruity esters. Spices such as clove bring complexity to floral blossoms and caramel sugars. The brandy is texturally slender and very easy to sip as the palate starts sweet with ripe baked apple and baking spices then finishes dry with hints of clean well-weathered lumber. Put this brandy in a time machine and send it back to the pioneers. Then we’ll finally see a photo of Jebadiah and the gang with smiles on their faces.