Roger Jorgensen at his hand-made copper pot still. Picture: Dudley Barker Roger Jorgensen at his hand-made copper pot still. Picture: Dudley Barker
Meet Roger Jorgensen - contemporary alchemist, rebel Boland farmer, and proud indie producer of South Africa’s first authentic, hand-crafted absinthe, Field of Dreams.
At first, a micro-distillery in Wellington seems an unlikely birthplace for the herb-infused elixir beloved of artists, writers and Europe’s bohemian demi-monde - and considered so risqué that it was outlawed worldwide for 90 years.
However, after engaging with the maverick manufacturer of this evocative, quasi-mythical aperitif at his historic homestead Versailles, it seems entirely apt for a product such as Field of Dreams to be produced according to a venerable French recipe amid the vineyards of a bucolic frontier valley settled by Huguenots three centuries ago.
In the tree-dappled shade of the werf, surrounded by the industrious clutter of a small working wine farm, is the heart of Jorgensen’s distillery - a hand-made, copper pot still - but despite its deceptively low-tech, rustic appearance, this is no backyard moonshine-machine.
And, as its pioneering master describes the science of transforming wine into the double-distilled spirit that forms the base of Field of Dreams absinthe, it soon becomes evident that this feisty British-born Norwegian is no hillbilly amateur.
A career farmer and dedicated craft distiller (who has called the Val du Charron home since 1986) Jorgensen has been giving the “Big Guys” a run for their money virtually since his arrival. Founder of the Wellington Wine Route and the artisanal Brandy Route, he began producing his acclaimed Savignac de Versailles vintage brandy from home-grown grapes in 1994.
Field of Dreams was born partly out of a “long-abiding fascination with absinthe, plus a desire to challenge the artist within the distiller”, spurred on by the fact that, “apart from a smattering of pot still brandies, no locally-made premium spirits industry exists in South Africa”.
“The spirits market is largely controlled by a handful of gigantic companies who peddle imported premium products on the backs of distribution networks established for their high street brands, blocking reform legislation that would allow a local premium sector to flourish.”
Jorgensen bucked this status quo with South Africa's only organic artisanal vodka, Primitiv, in late 2010. Augmenting a steadily growing portfolio, Field of Dreams was given the official green light earlier this year.
To describe the crafting of the exotic tipple, Jorgensen enters a barn redolent of an indefinable mélange of enticing fragrances. Drying bunches of foliage dangle from the rafters, and on a long bench lie heaps of neatly-labelled herbs and spices, reminiscent of apothecaries of old. These botanicals (most grown organically on Versailles and blended according to a well-thumbed 1871 recipe) give absinthe its alluring flavour and colour.
Jorgensen explains the history and origin of each with the zeal of a modern-day Getafix.
Genuine absinthe is flavoured with three primary herbs; anise, fennel, and the most distinctive ingredient - wormwood. Field of Dreams boasts five varieties of this ancient, sacred healing plant, including Grand Wormwood (Artemesia absinthum) from which the drink derives its name and characteristically bitter taste, and the indigenous African Wormwood or Wilde Als. All contain the controversial chemical thujone - believed to be both aphrodisiac and psychotropic - as a principal active ingredient. For this reason, despite the legalisation of absinthe, thujone levels are strictly controlled in the US and EU, although no restrictions exist in South Africa.
These primary herbs - along with liquorice root, coriander, calamus (sweet flag) root, angelica root and seeds and star anise - are first macerated in distilled alcohol for over 12 hours, and then re-distilled with added water to create a complex flavour profile. The classic, vivid emerald hue is obtained by infusing this with secondary colouring and flavouring herbs, including lemon balm (melissa), hyssop, wild mint, Lippia javanica (fever bush) and French tarragon.
Inevitably, subtle differences occur between batches.
“I’m not a factory,” states Jorgensen firmly.
“Artisanal distillers are hands-on specialists who transcend the gap between art and alchemy to create unique spirits. Field of Dreams is a labour of love.”
Having wooed a new generation of devotees, does this quintessential adjunct to La Belle Époque society really deserve its legendary reputation and cult status?
In answer, Jorgensen pours the recommended “dose” (as it is known) into a traditional bubble-stemmed glass. Eschewing the customary slotted spoon and sugar cube as unnecessary affectation where quality Absinthe is concerned, he trickles in a 3:1 dilution of chilled water, liberating the volatile aromatic oils. A hypnotic, swirling colour-shift begins, as the virescent, 72 percent proof spirit gradually “louches” into glaucous opalescence.
The next step in this time-honored ritual is to savour the absinthe at a leisurely pace, and wait for La Fee Verte to bring on the much-vaunted buzz … or could the likes of Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Du Maupassant, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Wilde, Poe, Picasso and Hemingway all have been wrong?
Jorgensen smiles enigmatically, preserving the mystique of the Green Muse and crystallising the realisation that he is not merely her inspired creator, but also her co-conspirator, in bringing Field of Dreams within reach of discerning yet ordinary mortals. - Weekend Argus