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Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.09
12 bottles: $16.75
‘Telleira’ is the Galician word for tile factory. In the past, tiles were made in this plot with the clay from...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.92
12 bottles: $17.56
Red
750ml
Bottle: $31.94
12 bottles: $31.30
• Varietal Mencía from a few parcels, some younger and some up to 100 years old. • Spontaneous fermentation in...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.80
12 bottles: $18.42
There is a note of dry hay and esparto grass in the 2022 Fusco, which made me think of some wines from Douro in...
WA
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.95
12 bottles: $21.51
100% Carignano. Harvest was on Sept 23rd at yields of around 38 hectoliters/hectare. The grapes were destemmed;...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $36.00
12 bottles: $34.20
A new paraje bottling from Antoine Graillot, the 2021 Encinas La Rata is from just below El Rapolao, on clay-rich...
WA
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $25.89 $26.40
12 bottles: $25.37
The 2021 Encinas feels cleaner and less reductive than previous years but still has the earthy rusticity that seems...
WA
93
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $21.50
A vin de soif, made in a light, refreshing style. Earthy with some smoked meat aromas on the nose. The palate is...
12 FREE
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $19.01
A vin de soif, made in a light, refreshing style. Earthy with some smoked meat aromas on the nose. The palate is...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $29.94
12 bottles: $29.34
• 100% Carignan. • Practicing Organic. • Poor Ranch Vyd (mult-generational family owned on benchland outside...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $69.89
The 2021 Ultreia Valtuille was produced with the clay part of their Villegas plot, as the sandy part was used for the...
12 FREE
WA
97
WS
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $69.94
Again, the cooler 2021 seems to have worked nicely for the 2021 Ultreia Cova de la Raposa, which compensates for the...
12 FREE
WA
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $69.94
The nose of the 2021 Ultreia Petra is completely different from the rest of the Ultreia range. This is only two...
12 FREE
WA
96
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.87 $19.60
The biggest volume of the winery is the 2021 Ultreia Saint Jacques, which represents some 170,000 bottles, and...
WA
93
WS
91
Spirits
700ml
Bottle: $56.80
6 bottles: $56.00
The result of over two centuries of expertise and tradition in the art of distillation. This white grappa, called...
12 FREE
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
Sale
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $31.92 $33.60
12 bottles: $28.50

Carignan Grappa Mencia

Carignan is an ancient blue-skinned grape varietal, thought to be indigenous to the Aragon region of Spain. However, today it is most commonly associated with the fine wines of southern France, and has been grown in many countries around the world which have the warm and dry conditions it requires to thrive. Carignan is recognized as being quite a sensitive vine, highly susceptible to all kinds of rot and mildew, although producing excellent results when given the right conditions and handled correctly. Its high tannin levels and acidity make the Carignan grapes very astringent, and as such, they are often used as a blending grape to give body to other, lesser bodied varietals. Despite this, with careful treatment, Carignan can produce superb single varietal wines packed full of character and unique attributes.

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.