Production
How Gorda is made
Breathe in the fresh air of Rudnik mountain.
It is right here, on the family estate, that our Gorda is made.
Surrounded by the Rudnik greenery with a wonderful landscape are a distillery and a cellar whose freshness makes the skin shudder. In the distillery, we use both a traditional copper cauldron and a distillation column device with the possibility of triple and quadruple distillation, which can rarely be seen in rural households.
The production capacity is 500 tons per type of fruit, which is approximately 60,000 liters per label.
Our unmatched quality is the result of constant professional control of the fruit itself, as well as all the processes during production: fermentation, distillation, aging and maturation.
The highest quality distillates mature for up to 25 years.
As it matures in the oak barrel, the brandy gets a unique bouquet, providing a specific set of
organoleptic and aromatic experiences!
Production processes
1 od 5
01
FRUIT
For our brandies, we use exclusively selected, hand-picked fruits from our own plantations and estates that are under the supervision of our family. The orchards are located in the municipality of Gornji Milanovac at altitudes of 380-570m. The fruit is planted, grown and maintained with great care, because we know that the process that leads to brandy of the highest quality begins in the orchard.
02
PREPARING FOR FERMENTATION
Only the finest and healthiest fruits in optimal technological ripening get to the process of being prepared for fermentation. At this stage, the fruit is carefully washed, additional selection is made, and then it is squeezed, i.e. crushed until its purest juice is obtained. In this process, all fruit seeds are carefully removed.
03
FERMENTATION
Fermentation is the process of breaking down sugar from pure fruit juice and turning it into alcohol. At our distillery, we use a very specific approach to the fermentation process in which two types of processes are skillfully combined: spontaneous (natural) fermentation and controlled fermentation. For this reason, the fruit must be treated minimally, because it can only go through the process of natural fermentation. The duration of the fermentation process, due to the unique approach of our distillery, lasts between 15 and 22 days. After that period, a fermented must or "Gorda's crushed fruit" is formed, which then moves onto the next phase of the process.
04
DISTILLATION
Distillation is the process of separating volatile from non-volatile substances. In it, the fermented crushed fruit turns into our "Eau de vie" or Gorda's raw spirit (water of life). In our distillery, this process is performed on a traditional alembic and on a rectifictation column still. Our distillation copper pot still is hand-made in accordance with our own design – it is additionally reinforced with copper arches, i.e. Raschig rings, which helps achieve a high concentration of contact with copper, resulting in an extremely high-quality distillation process. In this process, the crushed fruit is transformed into strong distillates, which are 68-73% alcohol. In our distillery, the process of distillation is divided into three fractions: the head, the heart and the tail, and only the heart passes onto the next phase of the process.
05
AGING AND MATURATION
The aging and maturation processes are different: Aging is the process that involves the distillate resting in inert vessels, while maturation is actually the aging of the distillate exclusively in wooden vessels. In our distillery, we expertly combine both processes to produce our brandies. For these processes, we use the highest quality vessels, located in our brandy cellar, two thirds of which is underground. In this way, we provide our distillates with the best conditions to fully develop their sumptuous potential. For the maturation process, we exclusively use hand-made barrels made of split wood of Serbian sessile oak. The sessile oak trees used by our distillery are grow in eastern Serbia, at an altitude of about 500m. The oak is carefully selected and delicately dried and prepared. Our oak barrels have a capacity of between 225 and 500 liters. In these barrels, Gorda's "Eau de vie" is carefully prepared and nurtured for 5 to 25 years – it is right here that our velvety and silky brandy Gorda is born!
Copyright © 2020 by GORDA
Copyright © 2020 by GORDA