The distilling of schnapps is steeped in centuries of tradition. Schnapps was originally created in central western Europe, and it is now distilled all over the continent.
Head over to this part of the world, however, and the only dedicated schnapps producer is the Wildbrumby schnapps distillery on the Alpine Way in Thredbo Valley in Australia’s Snowy Mountains.
Schnapps is traditionally an Alpine drink because of the difficulty of growing grapes in this high altitude environment. Instead, the locals would ferment fruit and distill it and the result was schnapps.
Wildbrumby likewise makes its range of authentic schnapps on site using fruit grown on the south-west slopes that surround it.
The range is the creation of master distiller Brad Spalding, who grew up in the fruit belt on the NSW border. While skiing overseas, Spalding met a young Austrian woman called Monika Landegger, whose family had been distilling schnapps in the farmyards around the Austrian village of Kitzbuhel for generations.
The joining of the two families – the Spaldings and the Landeggers – resulted in the creation of Wildbrumby.
Spalding first studied schnapps production extensively in Austria. Then, in the years leading up to the establishment of Wildbrumby, he researched the best selection of fruits to use in the production of schnapps.
Spalding says Wildbrumby schnapps is made to exacting production standards, and that its products now rivals the best of Europe.
Wildbrumby sources its fruit from the adjacent raspberry farm, and from local producers in the Tumut, Batlow and Snowy Mountains region.
The apples, pears, berries and stone fruit sourced from these areas are high quality with rich flavours, which makes them well suited to making schnapps.
However, Wildbrumby has developed a uniquely Australian liqueur-style schnapps that is lower in alcohol, and offers a more textured and flavoured product.
Unlike artificially flavoured beverages, the natural fruit flavours in its schnapps are strong and authentic, says Spalding.
And with just 18.5 per cent alcohol, Wildbrumby’s liqueur-style schnapps offers a reduced alcohol shot that fits better with modern bar culture.
“What has to change is this idea that a shot is strong alcohol. A shot should be enjoyable,” says Spalding.
Wildbrumby customers agree, if the large and loyal following among winter ski enthusiasts as well as summer visitors to the high country are any indication. The company was also recently among 23 finalists in the 2013 Telstra NSW Business Awards.
“We thought being in the mountains and producing a local product was attractive but as the product improved, and the range of products has grown, the number of customers visiting has increased,” says Spalding.
“We started off just as a factory producing schnapps. We didn’t envisage we would become a tourist destination. We opened up the distillery door and now we have a fully integrated destination,” he says.
According to Spalding, this was not in his original business plan.
“The idea was to make a really good spirit and to build up our wholesale and bar market but now we get such a large number of visitors through our distillery door, and that’s where the growth has been,” he says.
Wildbrumby does have other sales channels. It sells into some bars and airports through distributor, Maverick, and it does a steady stream of e-commerce business via its website.
“They are the three main avenues. We haven’t attempted to be a high volume producer pushing to get more product out there onto shelves. Really we are waiting for people to taste our schnapps, and then buy it,” says Spalding.
He says people are fascinated by watching how Wildbrumby products are made, and once you engage them in the process, that tends to translate into sales.
“Tourists like seeing processes, they like to see how things are made, the machines that make them, and that’s been really good for us. Through that avenue we get to talk to them, get to know them, and because they’ve been here, they understand the product in detail.
“I think where a lot of other spirit makers are constantly looking for markets, our business may be different in that we really have a strong distillery door presence and that’s been our main connection with the customer and with the market,” he says.
According to Spalding, it’s the same model that is increasingly being used to great success in breweries and wineries around Australia.
“When we started out, we didn’t really understand the interest out there in locally made produce, and the amount of interest in the process and the product that we have,” he says.
“Now that’s where we are really concentrating our efforts, in making it a better experience for visitors.”
