Page 47 - SLO Visitors Guide Summer 2024

slovisitorsguide.com SUMMER 2024 47
Grover Beach
Josh Rosenblum Band
Cocktail Shorty
Dark Desert Highway
Kings of 88
Susan Ritchie Band
Way Out West
Soul Kool
The Vibe Setters
Steppin’ Out
Jump Jax
Billy Martini Band
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SUNDAYS 3 PM - 6 PM
JUNE 9 - AUGUST 18
summer
city of grover beach
presents
concert
series‘24
6/9
6/16
6/23
6/30
7/7
7/14
7/21
7/28
8/4
8/11
8/18
8/24-8/25 Stone Soup Festival with the Clark Center
Experience authentic craft distilling at SLO de Vie
SLO de Vie is a craft distillery
created by two business partners,
Thomas da Rosa and Anatoly
Rosinsky, who come from two very
different geographic locations: Por-
tugal and Russia. Both men grew up
with families who distilled at home
for personal consumption. The da
Rosa’s made wine and aguardiente
(a distilled spirit containing 29-60%
alcohol) while the Rosinsky’s made
vodka.
When the two men became
neighbors and friends in the heart
of wine country, they shared their
passion for making wine and
spirits. They formed a partnership
to launch the SLO de Vie Distillery
in Grover Beach where they could
follow old-world techniques to win
over consumers’ palates with their
grape-based spirits.
Da Rosa explains, “Our goal, as
a company, is to maintain old-world
lost arts – the big distillers can’t do
what we do. They do mass quanti-
ties and use big machines, where
we are hands-on, like it was done
hundreds of years ago, but legally
and clean.”
Eau de vie, which translates to
“water of life”, refers to a fruit bran-
dy produced by fermentation and
double distillation. This process was
followed by the monks in France
who made it for medicinal purposes
over 600 years ago and today SLO
de Vie’s goal is to emulate that style
by making small batches following
Two friends follow
their passion for spirits
old-world techniques. The partners
will keep production low and focus
on quality by “removing the heads
and the tails” in their spirits.
“We don’t use the first part of
the distilling process; we only use
the middle 50 percent,” da Rosa
said. “The first 25 and the last 25 are
set aside. Only destemmed grapes
make it into our copper pot still,
thus avoiding any hint of wood
alcohol. We get a clean aguardente
without negative flavor.”
At any given time, you could
find up to 11 different products
offered. Each is made in small
quantities and bottle-aged. Offer-
ings include Grappa, gin, vodka,
and several aguardentes with flavors
including anise, fig, and passion
fruit – all made from local grapes.
Their products do well in competi-
tion with the Two Foxes Grappa
www.jackswashtubgroverbeach.com
360 W. Grand Ave. 360 W. Grand Ave.
Grover Beach, CA Grover Beach, CA
( (805 805) ) 489-1192 489-1192
D’Uva recently receiving a gold
medal at the San Francisco Spirits
Competition.
The partners welcome guests to
their distillery for tastings, semi-
nars, and special events. A tasting
includes a tour and education about
how the products are made in the
copper pot stills. Private events
for groups of various sizes can be
arranged including food such as im-
ported cheese and other items from
Portugal. Although the tasting room
is only open on Friday and Saturday
afternoons, if Thomas or Anatoly
are available, they are happy to take
appointments at any time to offer an
educational and fun experience. The
private tasting can be customized
based on the guests’ interest and
guests may even be treated to barrel
tasting from one of the 75 barrels of
aging spirits.
SLO de Vie is located at 200 S
4th St, Ste 201 in Grover Beach.
Tasting hours are Friday and
Saturday from noon -6 p.m. and by
appointment. For more information
visit slodevie.com or call
(805) 481-1263.
—Lisa Pretty
SLO de Vie owners Thomas da Rosa and Anatoly Rosinsky, blending old-
world distilling arts for modern tastes.