Maidenii Vermouth is a collaboration between French wine maker Gilles Lapalus and Australian bartender Shaun Byrne. In the creation of Maidenii they have sourced leaves, flowers, fruits, herbs, seeds, spices and roots from the gardens of both the old world and the new. The vital components, wormwood and wine, are plucked fresh from the colony of Victoria. Maidenii is named for British botanist Joseph Maiden (1859-1925), the original champion of the eucalypt and the acacia. When Maiden first landed at the untamed colony of New South Wales in 1880, he could not have foreseen the wonders that awaited him. At a time when his peers saw only a barren and hostile land, Maiden was astounded at the botanical wealth he discovered and dedicated the rest of his life to studying and cataloguing native flora. His passion for the botanical riches of Australia inspires the spirit of Maidenii.