Bar Agricole
About Bar agricole:
Bar Agricole is proud to be the first domestic producer in the Oliver McCrum portfolio. Beginning as a destination bar in San Francisco we have evolved into a California-based spirits company dedicated to popularizing farmstead spirits. We are proprietors of the first Demeter certified biodynamic vineyards in the United States using the first Demeter certified still outside of Europe, enabling us to produce single-origin, regionally expressive spirits that are among the most uncompromising in the world. From site specific gins and brandies to amaro and vermouth, our products honor the land, the growers, and the traditions that engender every bottle.
Thad Vogler is the founder of Bar Agricole, a brand rooted in transparency and the belief good spirits begin as agriculture . He has opened bars across California and wrote ‘By the Smoke and the Smell’, a book that celebrates independent spirits producers and received an Independent Spirit Award. His work has earned him two James Beard Awards and recognition as a leading voice in origin-driven spirits and ethical sourcing in hospitality.
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Spirits:
APEX GIN (Certified Organic)
With this first annual release we are undertaking a new category of gin made only from fresh botanicals harvested at the apex of ripeness according to the Demeter calendar. We steep in pot distilled biodynamic grape spirit rather than an industrial neutral spirit giving the gin greater vitality. We like to refer to these gins as tisane-style as they utilize fresh herbs like their namesake instead of dried botanicals like traditional tea and gin. Like all our gins this isn’t chill filtered, leaving the oils, fats and minerals that give this gin such intensity and texture.
barrel-aged curaçao (Demeter certified Biodynamic®)
We are honoring Grand Marnier in our own way with this cordial comprised of only three biodynamic® ingredients: oranges, raw sugar and pot-distilled alcohol, aged together in a California brandy barrel which adds tannic structure and richness to our popular curaçao. Use it in a Cadillac (We wanted to call it Cadillac but not allowed) Margarita or Presidente (our favorite stirred rum drink) or enjoy neat. We hope this and all our components for mixed drinks embody the same quality as our spirits.
Bolinas Gin (Demeter certified Biodynamic®, CERTIFIED ORGANIC)
A collaboration with Quince Restaurant, this gin is a field blend of foraged and cultivated botanicals from their Fresh Run Farm in Bolinas, as well as two local varieties of foraged seaweed. Emulating chef Michael Tusk’s hyper seasonal approach, we harvested each ingredient at peak ripeness and began their maceration in organic grape spirit within 24 hours. Though we anticipated a more floral gin, the yerba buena and verbena predominated. True to form, Michael voted to leave the gin as nature made it rather than adjust the blend. Each version will be a new field blend depending on the dynamics of the years harvest.
It's hard to exaggerate the ways in which this gin is special: A Demeter certified base spirit produced from heirloom vineyards; a site specific blend of botanicals all cultivated on one property in the paradisiacal town of Bolinas, California. We call these gins tisane-style because the botanicals are macerated fresh, instilling the gins with bright vital oils and fats which remain in the spirit because we don't chill filter which is almost unheard of with gin.
california brandy (Demeter certified Biodynamic®)
The only Demeter certified Biodynamic® brandy in the US, this offering is a truly agricultural spirit. Fermented, distilled in a German copper still and aged on the premises by Gena Nonini, whose family has farmed here for generations, the Marian Farms brandy is one of our all-time favorites. In France, this blend of casks would be an XO, but we are in Northern California where this single-estate, grower-producer brandy is made completely free of additives and occupies a category of its own. While it begs to be drunk neat, let us remind you: many of the great whiskey drinks were also brandy drinks. Try it in your Manhattan; try it in your old fashioned.
DRY Curaçao (Demeter certified Biodynamic®)
This curaçao contains only three ingredients, all farmed in accordance with Biodynamic ® practices: California orange peel, sugar and grape spirit. Its bright elegance will remind you why this ingredient dominated the pages of bar books for more than a century. Thanks to our sister Gena of Marian Farms who developed it with us.
For us bartending has been a little bit like certain traditions of Japanese carpentry where the artisan must build his own tools before beginning on furniture. This curaçao is one of the first tools we developed and has been instrumental in making elemental, delicious drinks from real, agricultural ingredients.
New Mission Brandy (Demeter certified Biodynamic®)
This immature brandy is a blend of Biodynamic® muscat and Palomino, one of the Mission varieties descendent from vines farmed by the Spanish producers of the 17th century. One of the main reasons we developed it is for use in the famous Pisco Punch, born in San Francisco at the Bank Exchange Saloon which operated on the block now occupied by the Transamerica Pyramid. The term “Pisco” is quite litigious with two countries claiming its invention: Chilé and Peru - no chance another country can even mention it on the label. In addition to the Mission Variety, Palomino, the brandy is made with Black Muscat which is a grape used historically in the piscos of Chilé.