Fine Spirits invited a group of bartenders, hospitality pros and journalists to Relais Poggio ai Santi, above San Vincenzo, to get to know Farmer’s Botanical Gin the way its name suggests: out in the fields.
The gin
Farmer’s is a gin that starts with the grain. It comes from Idaho, where it is distilled from organic wheat grown on 1,000 Springs Mill, a third-generation family farm. The organic botanicals are infused in small batches, and the lineup is a little different from your typical London Dry: juniper and elderflower lead on the nose, with lemongrass, coriander and angelica root behind them. The result is clean, floral and soft-textured, with enough backbone to carry a Direct Martini. Fine Spirits brings it into Italy, and it fits their focus on farm-rooted, high quality spirits.
The Relais
Poggio ai Santi is a 19th-century estate set on a hill of Mediterranean scrub, olive trees and pines, looking straight out to the sea and the island of Elba. Owner Francesca Vierucci turned the family home into a small, quiet relais spread over three buildings and about 40 hectares of land. The estate produces its own olive oil and wine, and its restaurant, Il Sale, cooks with what the land gives.
We spent the morning walking the property and gathering wild herbs and botanicals along the paths. After lunch, the harvest went behind the bar. Each team built a cocktail on Farmer’s Botanical Gin using what we had picked, then the drinks went head to head in a friendly competition.
SAL8
If you are passing through, save an evening for SAL8, the estate’s bar. The name reads “salotto,” the Italian living room, and that is the mood: relaxed, a bit vintage, with a terrace facing the sunset over Elba. Much of what goes into the drinks comes from the estate’s own garden, so the cocktail list moves with the seasons.
Thank you to Farmer’s Gin, Fine Spirits and everyone at Poggio ai Santi for a day spent outdoors in the Tuscan countryside.
Photography by Fabio Giamello