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White
750ml
Bottle: $18.08
12 bottles: $17.72
Fresh and clean with green-apple and lemon character. Hints of dried apricots. Medium body. Some lime. Easy finish....
JS
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.57
12 bottles: $12.32
Colour: Intense bright red colour with violet reflections. Nose: Flavours of prune, tobacco and vanilla. Taste: Dry,...
White
750ml
Bottle: $25.20
12 bottles: $24.70
Rapid Ship
Spirits
375ml
Bottle: $44.40
12 bottles: $42.18
Floral nose. Waxy (candlewax, crayons), then spicy, fruity notes emerge, in particular raisin and plum, becomes more...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $20.14 $21.20
12 bottles: $17.42
Dark cherry, plum and cassis flavors, with rich cinnamon, herb and coffee notes. Full flavored grilled or sauced...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $22.95
12 bottles: $22.49
The 2022 Nero d'Avola is dark and woodsy in the glass, with dried blueberries and exotic spices lifted by sage hints....
12 FREE
VM
91
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $36.79
6 bottles: $36.00
The nose is fragrant, delicate and harmonious. On the palate, this grappa is intense and complex, but with a smooth...
12 FREE
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $82.39
4 bottles: $81.60
Complex profile with multiple nuances attributable to spicy and fruity notes with hints of vanilla, morello cherry...
12 FREE
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $40.08
6 bottles: $31.60
Bold and bright on the nose, hints of fresh fennel and black licorice dominate the nose, with slight touches of Meyer...
12 FREE
UBC
90
Case only
Spirits
700ml - Case of 4
Bottle: $82.50
Sweet oak and cereal on the nose. Enjoyably elegant on the palate, with rich nutty and floral notes. Richly textured...
12 FREE
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $33.60
12 bottles: $28.50
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $26.40
12 bottles: $22.80
Aged in oak for 12 months, this golden grappa edges close to aged brandy territory—although one sip and that grappa...
WE
89
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.94 $13.01
An excellent deep, spicy, intriguing red wine from Sicily, the 2023 Nero d’Avolo is a tank-fermented and aged, dark...
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.17
12 bottles: $14.87
A refreshing delight, Cantina Gabriele Malvasia carries a sweet and easy to drink composition. With sweet and spicy...
White
750ml
Bottle: $18.66
12 bottles: $18.29
COLOR Pale straw yellow color NOSE The bouquet on the nose is delicately sweet, with floraland fruity notes of citrus...
White
375ml
Bottle: $33.12
6 bottles: $32.46
COLOR: Golden yellow with amber highlights. NOSE: Nose of honey, apricot, citrus and dried figs. FLAVOR: Balanced and...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.62 $15.13
The 2022 Nero d'Avola mixes sweet herbal tones with crushed black cherries and wet stone to form an inviting bouquet....
VM
89
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.72
6 bottles: $24.23
The 2020 Secca del Capo is sweetly scented with exotic florals, green melon and candied ginger. It’s soft and round...
VM
89
WA
88
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.94 $22.80
12 bottles: $21.66
Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.00
12 bottles: $17.64
Nero d’Avola, guyot, planted in 2011, harvested in late September at 42 hl/ha. Destemmed and crushed, with...

Grappa Malvasia Nero D'avola Italy

Like so many of the great spirits of Europe, Grappa was born from a need to make resources go that little bit further, to eke out the last drop of flavor and potential from the crops of winemakers. Indeed, Italian vintners invented Grappa as a way to make use of the pomace - leftover grape skins, stems, pulp and seeds - which remained after the juice was extracted from the fruit needed to make wine. Over the centuries, the process was refined, and the distillation of Grappa became an art in itself. Today, top Grappa producers use a range of state of the art equipment, from continuous stills to pot stills, to manufacture a wide variety of Grappas, each with their own distinct characteristics.


Most of us know Grappa from our local Italian restaurants, where it is commonly served as a digestif. However, in the twenty first century, there is a high interest in unique, boutique Grappas, which showcase the talent of the distillers through a range of interesting qualities. Grappa can be aged in oak, in which case it takes on a beautiful golden color, quite different from the clear Grappas we are most familiar with. The high end Grappas are a world away from the harsh spirit many of us have encountered, and have a smooth, gentle quality which can be nothing short of a revelation.

Italy’s largest island, Sicily, has a wine producing history that can put most other European regions to shame. It was producing quality wines before the days of the Roman empire, and even the Ancient Greeks were not the first to cultivate vines on the island. For as long as anyone knows, the key grape varietal of Sicily has been Nero d’Avola, the beautiful, deep blue skinned grape which produces the region’s characterful, powerful red wines. While in the past, Nero d’Avola was mainly used as a blending grape, due to its deep color and intensely full body, it is today being increasingly celebrated as a single varietal wine grape, and is perfect for those who like their wines boisterous, loud and strong.



Nero d’Avola is grown pretty much everywhere on Sicily, as demand for wines made from this grape have never been higher. Despite its power and body, it is quite a versatile grape - it can be aged in oak barrels, which produces a dense and dark wine which puts its intense characteristics to good use, but it is also often drunk quite young, which allows its jammy, plummy character to come forward. It is also used to make rose wines in some appellations of Sicily, demonstrating a softer side to this otherwise heavy, deeply flavorful grape.

There are few countries in the world with a viticultural history as long or as illustrious as that claimed by Italy. Grapes were first being grown and cultivated on Italian soil several thousand years ago by the Greeks and the Pheonicians, who named Italy 'Oenotria' – the land of wines – so impressed were they with the climate and the suitability of the soil for wine production. Of course, it was the rise of the Roman Empire which had the most lasting influence on wine production in Italy, and their influence can still be felt today, as much of the riches of the empire came about through their enthusiasm for producing wines and exporting it to neighbouring countries. Since those times, a vast amount of Italian land has remained primarily for vine cultivation, and thousands of wineries can be found throughout the entire length and breadth of this beautiful country, drenched in Mediterranean sunshine and benefiting from the excellent fertile soils found there. Italy remains very much a 'land of wines', and one could not imagine this country, its landscape and culture, without it.