Grey Goose French Ultra Premium Vodka 70 cl 40%

Picardie in winter is flat, wet and wind-scoured. The wheat is sown in autumn and stands in the ground through the whole cold season before it is cut the following summer. That long, slow ripening is what an entire idea about vodka rests on.

Expert description

Grey Goose is a French Vodka distilled from soft winter wheat from Picardie and bottled at 40%.

There are two ingredients in the bottle and no more: the wheat and the water. The wheat is grown in Picardie in northern France, where soil and climate produce a soft variety high in starch, and the water comes from the house well in the Cognac region. None of it leaves France along the way.

The unusual part is the distillation. Where most so-called premium vodkas market themselves on five, seven or ten passes, Grey Goose runs only once through a continuous column. The thinking is the opposite of the norm: each extra distillation cleans the spirit while taking away some of the grain, and here the grain is the point of the bottle.

You can taste it. A soft, almost marzipan sweetness sits through the middle, the kind that sharply distilled vodkas have polished out. The bottle itself carries flying geese over a French landscape, and the glass is frosted so the image reads more clearly.

Tasting notes

Nose

Fresh wheat and a touch of marzipan. Behind it sits something floral and a suggestion of lemon peel.

Palate

Silky, with obvious grain sweetness through the middle. A light almond note spreads out before white pepper gives it an edge.

Finish

Clean and medium. The sweetness falls away calmly and leaves a dry, faintly peppery impression.

Specifications

Name: Grey Goose
Producer: Grey Goose
Region/Country: Picardie and Cognac, France
Type: French Vodka
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Single distilled in a continuous column
EAN no.: 5010677850100
Serving suggestion: In a dry Martini with a lemon twist, or neat in a cool glass without ice.

Flavour profile

Soft · Grain sweet · Almond · Clean

Did you know?

The man behind Grey Goose, Sidney Frank, was an importer who had already turned a German herbal liqueur into an American cult phenomenon before he decided in 1997 to build a French luxury vodka. He had no background in spirits production — he had an idea and a salesman's ear for what people wanted to believe.

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Frequently asked questions about Grey Goose

Why is Grey Goose distilled only once?

Because the wheat is the point of the bottle. Every distillation cleans the spirit while removing some of the grain character, and the house chose to stop after one long run through a continuous column. The result carries more sweetness and body than heavily rectified vodkas.

What is it made from?

Soft winter wheat from Picardie and spring water from the Cognac region. Two ingredients, nothing else. The wheat is sown in autumn, sits in the ground over winter and is harvested the following summer, which gives a higher starch content than spring-sown grain.

How does it taste neat?

Soft and round with clear grain sweetness. There is an almond note through the middle of the mouth and a light white pepper at the close, but no harshness. Served cool rather than ice cold, you get the most out of the wheat.

Which cocktails suit it?

The ones where the base should register without taking over. A dry Martini, a Vesper or a simple build with tonic and lime all suit it. It also works in an Espresso Martini, where the grain sweetness meets the coffee. See other bottles among our Vodka brands.

Where does the water come from?

From the house well at Gensac-la-Pallue in the Cognac region. It rises from an aquifer beneath the building, filtered naturally through limestone. Nothing further is done to it before the spirit is brought down to bottling strength with it.

Is it gluten free?

Vodka distilled from wheat carries no gluten after distillation, because the gluten proteins do not come across. If you have coeliac disease and are highly sensitive, there are products made from potatoes or corn that you can rely on entirely.

Why is the glass frosted?

So the artwork can come forward. The geese and the landscape are printed onto frosted glass, which scatters light instead of throwing it back, and that keeps the image legible all the way round. It also makes the bottle less slippery once it is cold and wet.