Rue de Volga, in Paris, a small window surrounded by wood lit by warm lights.
Welcome to the Alembic Parisien.
Once the door is pushed open, Vincent Girodet, black apron and big smile, welcomes us.
This 46-year-old father opened this boutique distillery in the heart of the 20th arrondissement of Paris a little less than two years ago.
Gins, brandies and liqueurs (*), it already has a dozen references.
All are produced on site, thanks to two imposing copper stills which sit in the middle of the place, with one goal: to highlight the Ile-de-France agricultural region.
In fact, all of its alcohols come from regional products.
“Pears from an arborist from Pamfou
(Seine-et-Marne)
, tomatoes for a liqueur from Gonesse
(Val-d'Oise)
, cereals from the fields of the Orville farm-brewery in Louvres
(Val-d'Oise). 'Oise)
…” lists Vincent Girodet.
For strawberries, raspberries, herbs and aromatic plants, the latter also works with several Parisian urban structures such as Ferme Suzanne, Paysan Urbain, Topager or even the one located at the top of the Bastille opera house.
The “liquor of the roofs of Paris” is thus one of its signatures.
Count 42 euros for the Fleurs de Charonne liqueur, 46 euros for the gin.
The flowers of Royaumont Abbey highlighted
Even the water used to lower the alcohol content of the distillates (75° at the still outlet) comes from the Chevreuse valley (Essonne).
Always local, beet sugar added to liqueurs.
“And I’m always on the lookout for new producers and inspiring places,” notes this enthusiast.
The Parisian distillery has a dozen references, such as the Fleurs de Charonne liqueur (42 euros).
It was in this context that last year he discovered the Royaumont Abbey in Asnières-sur-Oise (Val-d'Oise) with its vegetable garden of around a hundred different varieties.
1,000 m2 of “organic and untreated” cultivation which already provides some of the vegetables served in the local restaurant.
He falls “suddenly crazy”.
“Vincent, looking for new materials, contacted us.
We liked the idea and we agreed on two liqueurs: one from elderflowers, the other from lemon verbena,” rejoices Romain Van De Walle, the head gardener of Royaumont.
A nod from the Abbey to its distant monastic past and to the monks who invented many liqueurs, including the famous Chartreuse.
“The first bottles were released at the beginning of September for the festival,” adds the master of the vegetable garden.
“It’s great because Royaumont trusted me even though I was just starting out,” comments Vincent.
The elderflowers and lemon verbena are picked at Royaumont Abbey by Vincent, before being stripped of the leaves and distilled fresh.
DR
Because the latter did not fall into the still when he was little.
Or well, not quite.
“Both my grandfathers made their own brandy.
They macerated the fruit and I was always there for the traveling distiller's visit.
I think of them every time I distill pear,” breathes this born Burgundian.
Whiskeys in the works
But his desire to “please” with his productions comes above all from his previous profession: the hotel and catering industry.
“I worked in events in particular, for large houses like Crillon or Meurice which are characterized by a lot of rigor, attention paid to customers but also to products,” he notes.
An “exciting” world but also a “perpetual maelstrom”.
Vincent is already preparing the sequel.
In parallel with his activity, he trained at the distillery, with professionals “in Brittany, Burgundy, Champagne-Ardenne, Hérault….
The widest possible spectrum to be versatile.
» The idea has been floating around in the back of his mind for years.
It had already sprouted in Scotland, where he spent a year in the 2000s and discovered the world of whisky: “I already told myself that I would like it in a second life.
»
It was, “like many”, the confinement which made him decide to embark on this reconversion long delayed by the rhythm of daily life.
“Everything stopped suddenly in the hotel and catering industry and there, I said to myself:
I won’t start again
.”
The project is maturing.
It comes to fruition with the arrival of the stills in May 2022 and the start of production “immediately”.
Which will also expand.
“Whiskeys have already been launched but they require at least three years of aging in oak barrels,” he explains.
No rum on the horizon though.
“I’m often asked about it.
But I won't do it until sugar cane grows in Île-de-France.
»
(*).
Alcohol should be consumed in moderation