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1.5Ltr
Bottle:
$12.99
The wine is a deep red ruby, with purple highlights and a light mousse and rim of the same color. It has an intense...
750ml
Bottle:
$6.99
The wine is a deep red ruby, with purple highlights and a light mousse and rim of the same color. It has an intense...
750ml
Bottle:
$16.25
The Vecchia Modena Premium Lambrusco di Sorbara represents the history both of the Chiarli wine Company and of...
![Colonia Las Liebres [Altos Las Hormigas] Bonarda 2021 750ml](https://www.saratogawine.com/files/images/cached_thumbs/f1/f10536bb5663626208a2c73629bbe0c2.jpg){kind=small}
750ml
Bottle:
$10.94
One of the finest and purest expressions of the grape at a very affordable price point is the 2021 Colonia Las...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.00
12 bottles:
$11.76
Attractive red and blue fruit with herb and dried orange-peel perfume. Soft and juicy with medium body and a polished...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.89
A deep, stony, mineral bonarda with red cherries, blue fruit, graphite and some grilled herbs. Tight and juicy on the...
750ml
Bottle:
$100.70
$106.00
Kaiy? whisky is matured in the finest Japanese Mizunara oak casks. These casks are handmade due to Mizunara oak’s...
750ml
Bottle:
$78.17
$82.28
This was aged in Japan's rare Mizunara oak for the entirety of its maturation, which includes three-month ocean...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.99
The NV Rosso Labrusca lifts up with a decadent blend of ripe cherries, blueberries, sweet herbs and spice. This takes...
750ml
Bottle:
$148.50
$199.94
Prunes, forest honey, vanilla seeds, dark chocolate cookies, and Brazil nut, with hints of chocolate orange and...
750ml
Bottle:
$249.94
$349.94
Showing an attractive straw-gold color, this mature whisky has bright flavors of baked cereal grains, toasted vanilla...
750ml
Bottle:
$69.23
Ambrosial notes of sprouted grain, honey, bacon fat and orange blossom accompany deeper notes of toasted hazelnut....
750ml
Bottle:
$74.79
$78.73
This unique expression was developed in 2013 as a result of Nikka's continuous experiments to widen the variety and...
750ml
Bottle:
$46.46
$48.91
An accomplished blend packed with appealing flavors from Miyagikyo and Yoichi Distilleries. Honey, baked lemon,...
750ml
Bottle:
$79.94
$89.94
Number 1 in the 2018 Top 20. Notably balanced and elegant, the colorful palette of whiskies combines for tremendous...
750ml
Bottle:
$299.94
It's the 100th anniversary of the marriage of Masataka and Rita Taketsuru, and there's plenty to celebrate, with...
750ml
Bottle:
$110.91
$116.75
This is a single malt from the Yoichi distillery, Nikka’s first distillery built in 1934. The founder Masataka...
1.5Ltr
Bottle:
$14.50
$15.26
Riunite Lambrusco is perfect for every occasion. Enjoyable and straight forward, its easy drinkability make it a...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.25
The subtle and demure nose shows aromatics of lightly toasted butter biscuit, clover honey, dried Bergamot peel, and...
Bonarda Japanese Whiskey Lambrusco In-Store or Curbside pickup
Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.
The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.
Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.
While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.
Some grape species are distinct and unique varietals, clearly separate from each of their cousins. Others, like Lambrusco and Muscat, are more like umbrella terms, featuring several subspecies which show slight differences from each other from region to region. Indeed, there are astonishingly more than 60 identified varieties of Lambrusco vines, and they are almost all used in the production of characterful Italian sparkling wines. They are distinguishable by their deep ruby blush, caused by strong pigments present in their skins, and their intensely perfumed character.
Lambrusco vines are grown in several Italian regions, although we most closely associate this varietal with Piedmont and Basilicata. It has also been grown successfully in Argentina and Australia. The varietal suffered from a fairly lowly reputation in the late 20th century, due to bulk, low cost production of Lambrusco sparkling wines, aimed at markets across northern Europe and America. However, things are rapidly changing, and the older, more traditional methods of bottle fermentation are returning, along with a higher level of quality and expression, as consumers become more discerning and demanding. Many of the Lambrusco sub-varieties have their own established DOC, such as Lambrusco Salamino di Santa Croce, Lambrusco di Sorbara and Modena, where new regulations are keeping standards high and methods traditional.