Bremer Valley agave distillers claim a South Australian first
A new kind of spirit, similar to tequila, is being produced by the Newell family at Callington.
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A Callington family has distilled one of South Australia’s first batches of agave spirit, an alcoholic drink from Mexico, and they have high hopes for the future.
Agave plants – commonly called century plants – are an introduced species which the Newell family believes has grown on their Bremer Valley property since the copper boom of the 1850s.
More than once, Nathan Newell said, his dad had mentioned offhandedly that there were people elsewhere in the world who used the plants to create type of distilled spirit.
Tequila is one variety of the spirit, produced from a particular species of agave in a particular region; other varieties produced in Mexico are known as mezcal.
The Newells’ aim had always been to use their hundred-acre block as a bed and breakfast.
However, as the years went past, that plan never quite materialised.
They tried growing lavender instead, but their crop was “annihilated” by kangaroos.
So they turned back to the agave plants.
“After a couple of stouts we were talking one night … I started googling and that was it,” Mr Newell said.
“(The mezcal industry) is moving very quickly in other countries, but here in Australia it’s not yet.
“As soon as I knew that, we started pushing to get that historic significance.”
Agave hearts are roasted in a fire pit before being fermented and distilled. Photos: Bremer Valley Agave.
There have been other attempts to distil an agave spirit in South Australia: Mount Compass Spirits sells a product “produced from Australian-sourced agave syrup”, and at least two other enterprises – one in the Barossa and one at McLaren Vale – have planted crops with hopes of harvesting in the future.
But Mr Newell believed his trial batch of Bremer Valley Agave was the first to be produced, from start to finish, here in the state.
How is it done?
The hearts of the agave plants are harvested and roasted in a fire pit filled with locally sourced wood, the exact type of which Mr Newell said was “our secret recipe”.
The process imbues the roasted agave hearts with the spirit’s signature smoky flavour.
After several days, the hearts are crushed, left to ferment, then distilled.
No other ingredients go into the bottle – just pure agave.
Bremer Valley Agave's first batch is distilled in the Adelaide Hills. Video: Bremer Valley Agave.
The trial batch was produced at Route Nine Distillery at Balhannah, and only a limited number of people have had a taste.
“We’re of two minds whether to bottle and sell it, or keep it,” Mr Newell said.
“The Mexican tradition is to glass age it for 20 years … which changes the flavour profile over time.
“I’m quite sentimental, so to have that amount of product around for later years (appeals to me).”
Having proved the concept, the family is now in the early stages of gearing up for a production run of perhaps 200 bottles.
Theirs will always be an artisanal effort – after all, agave plants take a minimum of five to eight years to mature, and those they have used so far are at least 30 years old.
Still, in years to come, the Newell family hoped to make Bremer Valley Agave the focal point of a broader enterprise, with a distillery of their own, a restaurant and “world-class” accommodation.
That would be a business able to be passed down to the Newell girls, and one able to reward their grandfather in his retirement.
They might need investment to make it happen, but Mr Newell was happy to dream big.
“This is more than just a drink,” he said.
“It’s a catalyst for regional tourism, job creation and a whole new chapter in how we define South Australian spirits.
“It’s our proudest moment yet, and we’re only just getting started.”
