Love
A LABOUR OF
By Melissa Walsh Photos Gary Sissons
W
hen the Richartz family set their mind to something, they never do things by half which is why the team of Barbara, Christoph, Felix and Darcy have created awardwinning gins in their first year of operation. Crafting things has been a family tradition for generations, with mum Barbara recalling her Dad growing up in a wine region in Germany where he made cider and brandies and where they regularly went to visit. “My Dad grew up in a wine region called Mosel where we had orchards and the family always made cider or fruit brandies. It’s a tradition I grew up with. My mum used to make her own herbal schnapps which is very common in Germany, a drink which is a little bit medicinal. It was something you drank after dinner to help digest your food,” said Barbara. It was a natural progression for Barbara and Christoph to dabble in making their own digestive but soon the hobby turned into something that was in demand. “It was always a hobby for us and we started with a very small back factory in Carrum Downs which we outgrew so quickly when people started wanting to drink it,” Barbara said with a laugh. We made the digestive first with the help of a well-known distiller from Germany who has a PhD in all-things-distilling. He came out to Australia and helped us to set up our small still and refine the recipe for the digestive.” continued next page...
E ssence
24 | PENINSULA
January 2019