Valeria Saavedra, from Rosario, creator of La Salvaje gin, a liqueur described as “with a coastal flavor”, won a Gold Medal at a World Wine and Spirits Competition held in London, and now the drink will be made in a distillery model that will be installed in the Santa Fe town of Roldán.
Saavedra is one of the few women distillers in the country and achieved the highest score (95/100) at the famous Wine and Spirits Competitions (IWSC) 2022, held in London in mid-March.
During the contest with more than 50 years of experience the jurors evaluated spirits from over 90 countries, through the blind tasting system in which 6,457 contestants from all over the world participated.
“In the Best Contemporary Gin category, 800 participated and among them, 13 distillates from around the world were selected. Gin La Salvaje del Litoral was the only one from South America,” Saavedra told Télam.
After noting that the name of the gin is a tribute to the legendary Rosario artist Rita La Salvaje (Juana González, her real name), said that due to the jury’s high score (95/100) the liqueur won the gold medal.
“In Argentina and South America there is no other contemporary gold medal gin. In the rest of the world, only a few and that gives an idea of the level of score,” added Saavedra, who has a diploma in Distillation from the National Technological University (UTN). from Rosario.
“It is the first time that we compete at a world level and the gold medal crowns our effort and work,” said Saavedra, who lived in Spain for 13 years, working in hotels and restaurants in Barcelona, Ibiza and Formentera.
“That gave me a lot of experience and I was able to try a lot of very expensive and priceless labels to educate the palate,” said Valeria, who also studied Phytotherapy in Spain and when she returned to the country -more than a decade ago- she began to develop the gin.
I affirm that his gin “is inspired by the Paraná Delta, in the south of the coast, and has to do with Rosario, the river, the islands, nature, and of course, the tribute to a figure from the Rosario show like the mythical Rita La Salvaje”.
“In addition to juniper, Gin La Salvaje brings together the flavor of coriander, cardamom, cloves, lemon verbena, laurel, rosemary, eucalyptus, lime and orange. 90 percent of these botanicals grow in the Paraná delta,” he explained.
And then described: “This is a contemporary gin, fresh, aromatic, elegant, very balanced and wild by nature. With four distillations and ten local botanists, it differs from the others due to its marked coastal imprint.”
Saavedra, who currently has a microdistillery in Rosario, announced that he plans to locate a larger plant in the Roldán Industrial Park.
