Robert Gierer's fine distillery focuses on high-quality spirits and rare vintages. A few years ago, Robert Gierer from Lindau decided to dedicate himself to producing top-quality brandies. Today, his distillates from Lake Constance are known far beyond the region and are featured on the digestif menus of several renowned gourmet restaurants. kontakt visited the distiller.
This is a question every forward-thinking entrepreneur asks themselves sooner or later: How can one optimally position their products or services in markets characterized by increasing competitive pressure and stand out from the crowd? Robert Gierer from Bodolz near Lindau also considered a new strategy – almost exactly 15 years ago. He runs a respected fruit-growing business, now in its fourth generation, and at the time, like many of his competitors, offered a few of the most common brandies alongside his fruit. This made him one of many in the Lake Constance region. But Gierer wanted more: "I was determined to do something unique, to bring products to market that would be appreciated far beyond the region."
The trained fruit grower and master distiller focused on the high-end segment. He no longer wanted to limit himself to the usual brandies: plum brandy, cherry brandy, apple and pear brandy – all very good spirits when the distiller has the necessary skill and the fruit is of high quality. But Robert Gierer's goal was much more ambitious. He set out to impress with premium brandies of the highest quality and rare varieties. And as if the Lindau native had foreseen the emerging renaissance of fine liqueurs, he expanded his product range to include sour cherry, apricot, raspberry, Williams pear, strawberry, vineyard peach, and walnut liqueurs. "They are all made according to old family recipes," Gierer assures us. "And that's why they simply taste completely different. They impress with their subtle sweetness and fruity aromas." But Gierer's passion lies above all with brandies. And that's why he was quite pleased when a journalist recently described his work as having "burning passion." Indeed, this play on words perfectly captures what drives the top distiller from Lake Constance. This pursuit of quality has opened doors for him and his fine spirits to many leading gourmet restaurants in Germany. In Lindau, for example, connoisseurs can enjoy Robert Gierer's brandies at the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Villino. The kontakt editorial team meets the master distiller where he can discuss his burning passion in a fitting setting: We enter the tasting room – a former barn converted with impeccable taste – through castle-like archways and take a seat beneath a huge, hand-forged chandelier. These tasting rooms are likely among the most beautiful. A few years ago, Robert Gierer from Lindau decided to dedicate himself to producing top-quality brandies. Today, his distillates from Lake Constance are known far beyond the region and are featured on the digestif menus of several renowned gourmet restaurants. [Contact] visited the renowned distiller. This is a question that every forward-thinking entrepreneur probably asks themselves sooner or later: How can one optimally position their products or services in markets characterized by increasing competition and visibly stand out from the crowd? Robert Gierer from Bodolz near Lindau also considered a new strategy – almost exactly 15 years ago. He runs a respected fruit-growing business, now in its fourth generation, and at the time, like many of his competitors, offered a few of the most common brandies alongside his fruit. This made him one of many in the Lake Constance region. But Gierer wanted more: "I was determined to create something unique, to bring products to market that would be appreciated far beyond the region." The trained fruit grower and master distiller focused on the high-end segment. He no longer wanted to limit himself to the usual brandies: plum brandy, cherry brandy, apple and pear brandy – all very good spirits when the distiller has the necessary skill and the fruit is of high quality. But Robert Gierer's goal was much more ambitious. He set out to impress with premium brandies of the highest quality and rare varieties. And as if the Lindau native had foreseen the emerging renaissance of fine liqueurs, he expanded his product range to include sour cherry, apricot, raspberry, Williams pear, strawberry, vineyard peach, and walnut liqueurs. "They are all made according to old family recipes," Gierer assures us. "And that's why they simply taste completely different. They impress with their subtle sweetness and fruity aromas." But Gierer's passion lies above all with brandies. And that's why he was quite pleased when a journalist recently described his work as having "burning passion." Indeed, this play on words perfectly captures what drives the top distiller from Lake Constance. This pursuit of quality has opened doors for him and his exquisite spirits to many leading gourmet restaurants in Germany. In Lindau, for example, connoisseurs can enjoy Robert Gierer's brandies at the Relais & Châteaux Hotel Villino. The kontakt editorial team meets the master distiller where he can discuss his burning passion in a fitting setting: We enter the tasting room through castle-like archways – a former barn converted with impeccable taste – and take a seat beneath a huge, hand-forged chandelier. These tasting rooms are likely among the most beautiful in the entire Lake Constance region and probably far beyond.
Lined up behind us: all the distillery's brandies and liqueurs. From Williams pear brandy to plum and mirabelle brandy, as well as a brandy made from their own herbal blend, to wild raspberry, sloe, and orange spirits. Gierer jokingly calls one exceptional distillate, the aromatic hazelnut spirit, "Nutella for grown-ups." And then there are the rarities. The Marc de Traminer or the Marc de Chardonnay, for example (both could also be described as Lake Constance grappas). Or the apricot and sour cherry brandy, the quince brandy, and brandies made from damson plums, wild cherries, and rowan berries. In total, we count no fewer than 26 fine brandies and liqueurs. Among them is a very special creation, available only from Robert Gierer: his Elvados, aged for eight years in Limousin oak barrels, has even won over many a die-hard whisky enthusiast. It's no coincidence that this brandy's name sounds like Calvados. In fact, it's a single-varietal distillate made from Elstar apples. Elvados is now even a protected designation of origin. Strictly speaking, however, Elvados isn't Calvados in the traditional sense. "Classic Calvados production doesn't usually use single-varietal fruit. Instead, juice is extracted from fallen fruit and then fermented. The resulting juice is then distilled into Calvados. With Elvados, however, we consistently use a single-varietal Elstar mash," explains Robert Gierer. Fruit brandies are products that require meticulous attention to detail. When Gierer speaks about his fine brandies, his voice is almost poetic: "I want to encourage people to truly enjoy fine brandies with all their senses, to give them the same attention as they would give top-quality wines," he says, describing his philosophy. This also includes learning to appreciate the aroma. "About half of the tasting process takes place through the nose. Therefore, one should first inhale these delicious aromas and visualize the corresponding fruit in one's mind's eye. Only then does the connoisseur take several sips from the glass and savor the fruity aromas." Gierer focuses on smooth, harmonious, and aromatic distillates. And he clearly hits the mark with many discerning connoisseurs.
Fine brandies experienced a veritable boom in the 1980s and early 1990s – especially in top-tier restaurants. Afterwards, things quieted down somewhat for fruit brandies. However, for the past few years, they have once again become highly sought after. Chefs and sommeliers have rediscovered these spirits. "The absolute top-quality brandies from smaller, artisanal distilleries are particularly in demand," says Robert Gierer. And he leaves no doubt that he considers his products to be on par with the distillates from the well-known names. Single-varietal brandies are in demand. Indeed, more discerning consumers are increasingly realizing that fruit brandies are not just the simple, often harsh blends of fruit brandy that were once so popular with German tourists during their holidays in Bavaria and Austria. What's in demand are single-variety brandies – for example, sour cherry brandy, apricot or quince brandy, or Williams pear brandy, a classic. And let's not forget the more exotic varieties, such as sloe brandy, wild cherry brandy, and rowanberry brandy. The fact that some fine brandies are only available in small quantities and command a correspondingly high price has a simple explanation: many fruits are actually quite inefficient for distillation. For example, to produce around 1.3 to 1.6 liters of alcohol, you need no less than 100 kilograms of hand-picked rowanberries. This is because the fructose in rowanberries consists mainly of sorbitol, a non-fermentable sugar.
Even wild cherries, strictly speaking from an efficiency standpoint, aren't really ideal for making brandy. This fruit is barely bigger than a fingernail and, moreover, consists of 80 percent stone. But let's be honest: who thinks about such mundane things as efficiency when it comes to convincing the ever-growing connoisseurship with excellent brandies? "What are the most important quality criteria for a superior distillate?" we ask Robert Gierer. "Naturally, the quality of the fruit is crucial," explains the Lindau native. They should be sun-ripened and highly aromatic. Ideally, the distillery belongs to a fruit farm. Distillation, on the other hand, depends on the timing. Usually, distilling takes place whenever there's time. This can be detrimental to the aroma. “We distill relatively early in the waning stages of fermentation, before the sugar has fully fermented. For example, we distill our Williams pear brandy just three weeks after fermentation. This ensures full fruit aromas. Clean fermentation is just as important for the quality of the final brandy as the distillation process itself,” explains Gierer. Only experienced master distillers know when the right time to distill has arrived, relying not on the calendar but on their personal intuition and expertise. And the fact that high quality requires absolutely clean stills should go without saying. The brandies then rest in barriques or stainless steel tanks, developing their aromas, before being diluted with soft water to drinking strength and bottled in particularly attractive bottles. “Spirit” or “brandy”? Many connoisseurs of fine spirits sometimes wonder what the difference is between brandy and spirit. Why, for example, is apricot brandy sometimes called “brandy” and raspberry spirit “spirit” at other times? In all cases, these are fruit-based spirits. However, that's where the similarities end. There's a crucial difference between a fruit spirit and a brandy in the production process. Gourmets often prefer brandies. Sometimes rightly so – but by no means always. Occasionally, a fruit spirit even surpasses a brandy in quality. For a fruit spirit, fresh or frozen fruit and its juices are steeped in 96% alcohol. This is followed by distillation. Brandy, on the other hand, is produced using a different method. Here, the alcohol comes from the fermentation of fruit. This process is considerably more complex and yields significantly smaller quantities. But when does one treat oneself to a fine brandy? It might, for example, conclude an excellent meal. High-quality fruit brandies have undoubtedly contributed to refining the culture of digestifs. But for connoisseurs of fine spirits, it would probably be an almost unbearable prospect to have to consume a multi-course meal only to then be able to indulge in rarities such as a quince brandy, a wild cherry brandy, or a sloe brandy. No, there are more than enough reasons to savor a fine brandy: perhaps in the afternoon with a light snack of flavorful cheese and ham. "Or why not after a successful round of golf?" asks Robert Gierer, who also points out that fine brandies pair wonderfully with other delicacies. They go well with cheese, but also with chocolate. And for those who haven't yet given up smoking, a high-quality, barrel-aged brandy is a welcome companion to a fine cigar. "Our Elvados is perfectly suited for this," says Robert Gierer – and in doing so, ignites a similarly burning passion in his conversation partner.
Michael Brückner