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Red
750ml
Bottle: $28.99
6 bottles: $28.42
It is a dark, garnet-red colored wine. It’s very expressive scented bouquet exhales the strong aromas of red and...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $24.93 $27.20
Quite a savory expression with dark plums, dried blackberries and violets, as well as fine-ground, toasted...
WS
90
JS
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.99
12 bottles: $18.61
Red
750ml
Bottle: $64.80
Not yet bottled, the 2017 Cornas has a rich, powerful, chewy style as well as notes of blackberries, blueberries,...
12 FREE
JD
93
WA
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $298.95
Rated 97-100 - A barrel sample that just about made my eyes roll back in my head, the 2019 Ermitage Ex Voto has...
12 FREE
JD
98
WS
97
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $66.34
In a completely different style to the 2016s, the 2017 Hermitage comes from a ripe, sexy vintage for Hermitage. Aged...
12 FREE
VM
94
JD
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $50.93
12 bottles: $49.91
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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $194.80 $199.39
Kaleidoscopic, this glorious vintage is terroir translucent, transporting you to the vineyard with its signature...
12 FREE
DC
98
WA
95
Red
750ml
Bottle: $150.95
6 bottles: $147.93
The epitome of elegance with its sheen of silky, pure red fruits and lissome acidity, in 2017 this Eden Valley Shiraz...
12 FREE
DC
95
JS
94
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $61.89
#71 TOP 100 CELLAR SELECTIONS 2020. Thanks in part to the relatively cool year, this is a wine that manages...
12 FREE
WE
95
VM
93
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $25.01
This blend of roughly equal parts Grenache and Syrah offers ripe but restrained blackberry and plum flavors accented...
12 FREE
WE
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $279.94 $293.20
Such incredible perfume and florality from this standout Shiraz, so expressive and captivating, filled with roses and...
12 FREE
DC
96
JS
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.90 $19.99
12 bottles: $18.24
Raspberries and cherries abound on the nose of the 2017 Lodge Hill Shiraz. It's medium-bodied, built around a core of...
WA
89
Red
750ml
Bottle: $97.94
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $241.24
6 bottles: $236.42
From a rocky, mica-schist lieu-dit that's only recently been showing up on single-vineyard wines, Chapoutier's 2017...
12 FREE
WA
97
WS
97
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $394.95 $431.20
The inky colored 2017 Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from the biggest, baddest part of Hermitage and was brought up all...
12 FREE
JD
100
WA
99
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $43.20
12 FREE
Case only
Red
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.20
6 bottles: $44.30
Color: Deep ruby red. Bouquet: Very ripe and intense nose; ripe blackberry and plum, fig, cracked pepper and orange...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $62.90 $64.00
The 2017 Syrah Rodgers Creek Vineyard is in a fine spot for drinking now and over the next few years. Blue-toned...
12 FREE
VM
91

Armagnac Primitivo Syrah 2017 750ml

Armagnac is a beloved grape brandy, hailing from the beautiful French region of Gascony, in the south-west of the country. It has been in constant production since sometime just before the fifteenth century, and over the decades has been the toast of royal households across Europe. Today, it is still enjoyed for its unique flavor profile and characteristics, and although it is understandably compared with Cognac, its more famous cousin, lovers of Armagnac claim that its distinctive rusticity and full body make it a superior brandy, perfect as a digestif or as an evening treat.

Armagnac is made from more than one grape varietal, but the major player in this drink is the fine Ugni Blanc grape, more commonly known by its Italian name, Trebbiano. This is one of the most widely planted grape varietals in the world, and grows beautifully in Gascony, which has a similar microclimate as its neighbouring wine region, Bordeaux. Armagnac grapes reveal fascinating and complex flavors after distillation, which commonly include christmas cake, earthy, oaky notes and praline.

Armagnac is sold under two categories - vintage, and non-vintage. A vintage Armagnac is made from a blend of grapes which have been grown in a single year, and will have the date printed on the label. Non-vintage Armagnacs, on the other hand, are labelled according to their age. V.S indicates that the brandy has been aged for a minimum of two years, VSOP for four years, XO six years, and Hors d’Age is a premium Armagnac which has been aged for at least ten years.

As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.


Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.

Known as Syrah in most countries around the world, and Shiraz in Australia and certain other regions of the New World, this grape varietal has proven over the centuries to be one of the most powerful and flavorful red wine grapes there is. It is now one of the planet's most widely grown grapes, and is a favorite with wineries as a result of its robustness and versatility. It isn't easy to identify many characteristics of this particular varietal, due to the fact that it is highly versatile and shows significant differences in flavor and character depending on the terroir it is grown in, and the climatic conditions of the region. However, Syrah is most widely associated with full bodied, strong and loud red wines, packed full of fruity and spicy flavors, held in a beautifully deep red liquid.