Why every pantry should have verjuice

Why every pantry should have verjuice

September 05, 2016

A simple and effective dimension of flavour

Verjuice may seem like a trendy new ingredient that our mothers never knew about but it actually dates back to medieval France when a delicate tartness and greater depth was added to many dishes in the form of juice from unripe fruits including grapes, crab apples and plums.

The French spelling, verjus from vert jus means green juice - the 'green' refers to being unripe, not the color.

Maggie Beer was the first person to produce verjuice commercially in Australia and since then it has become an important ingredient in every serious cook’s pantry. Most contemporary verjuice is made from unripe, unfermented grapes.

You can use this versatile ingredient to bring a subtle, fruity acidity to salad dressings and cooked dishes - try it wherever you might use lemon juice or vinegar but want something a little gentler.

Clovely Estate has two delicious varieties of verjuice to choose from:

Our Grenache Verjuice is a beautiful golden hue with fresh and zingy tart green apple notes, hints of lemon and lime zest and a suggestion of peach tea. Our Sangiovese Verjuice has mild acidity and lifted notes of Pink Lady apple making it a perfect ingredient to poach fruit, deglaze pans or enrich salad dressings.

There are a lot of possibilities in a bottle of verjuice. Experiment and bring a fresh world of flavour to your favourite dishes.




Also in Stories and insights from our vineyards and olive groves

Rack Dried Semillon wine
Two rack-dried wines that repay their artisan production

August 17, 2021

Clovely Estate’s ‘The Vault’ and Rack-Dried Semillon are perfect examples of fascinating wines created through a rack-drying process.

Read More

Brett Heading receiving the Samual Bassett Award, November 2020
Clovely Estate founder wins Samuel Bassett Award

November 28, 2020

Clovely Estate’s founder and owner, Brett Heading, was presented with the 2020 Samuel Bassett Award, which recognises his significant contribution to the Queensland wine industry.

Read More

Clovely Estate wines
The art and heart of creating our labels

March 12, 2019

How do you go about creating a wine label that really reflects what the wine is all about? Take three passionate people, a team of supporters, nine months of collaboration - and you may be somewhere close!

Read More