A black grape makes a clear spirit, and what survives that transformation is the interesting part. La Conspiration Spiritueux macerates Pinot Noir picked by hand, brought in from the vineyard plots and the press, then distils it in a hundred-litre bain-marie still, and the colour disappears entirely while the fruit does not. Organic, 45%, nine hundred numbered bottles from Champagne.

Red fruit is the first thing the grape gives up, and it arrives as fresh berry rather than as anything cooked or jammy. Fig follows underneath, denser and sweeter, with the slightly seedy quality that separates a fig from other soft fruit, and the weight of the mid-palate comes from there. Nutmeg is what nobody expects in that company: a warm, dry spice that arrives late and stops the fruit from having the last word. Heating gently in a bath of water instead of over a flame is what preserves material this delicate, since a direct fire would strip the fruit before the alcohol had finished rising. Juniper holds its position beneath all of it, and at 45% the spirit has enough strength to carry the fruit without turning heavy. Everything stays legible, which is the whole benefit of a slow still.

A bottle carrying this much fruit needs no help from the glass. Choose a dry, neutral tonic, ice generously, and keep the pour honest, since 45% survives dilution better than most. A twist of orange peel lifts the berry; a single fig, if the season allows, follows the recipe more literally. Nothing sweetened belongs here. It also deserves a short measure undiluted, where the nutmeg is clearest. Making a gin from a wine grape is a good idea; making three from three different grapes is an argument. It closes fruity, spiced and dry.