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Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.99
The wine has a deep, rich purple color. Intense red fruits are on the nose, with black pepper spice and a touch of...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.44 $21.60
12 bottles: $17.10
This wine has great color, with a dark purple and red hue. There are spicy, earthy aromas of black cherry, black...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.23 $23.59
12 bottles: $18.99
Varietally distinct, this Zinfandel captures the true essence of Alexander Valley. The fruit is sourced from a...
White
750ml
Bottle: $169.93
12 bottles: $166.53
Complex and super intense Palo Cortado, loaded with concentration. Salted caramel, toffee, walnut and some tangy...
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WA
96
JS
96
Red
750ml
Bottle: $27.90
12 bottles: $27.34
The 2016 Zinfandel Monte Rosso Vineyard is medium garnet-purple in color and opens with notions of raspberry tart,...
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WA
93
JD
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.89 $17.49
12 bottles: $15.83
This is a very successful Zinfandel, blending earth, spice and fruit into a savory, yet thirst-quenching package....
WE
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $28.13
6 bottles: $27.57
A rich wine with layers of raspberry, cherry, and blackberry complemented by vanilla, licorice, and toast....
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Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $21.35
A lush, full-bodied Zinfandel that blaze dark berry, earth and grassy aromas that complement a rich and complex...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.48 $18.40
12 bottles: $14.64
Red
750ml
Bottle: $50.40
6 bottles: $45.60
The 2019 Zinfandel Cat's Cradle is similarly hued but has a purer, crisper, more youthful vibe as well as ample plum...
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JD
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $37.80 $42.00
6 bottles: $30.00
This one has a big personality with aromas of black cherry and blackcurrant, nuanced by notes of celery seed, black...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $43.20 $48.00
6 bottles: $34.40
Dark plum and black-cherry flavors show great richness and breadth in this mouth-filling, slightly tannic wine as it...
WE
92
JD
90
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $52.94
12 bottles: $51.88
Tightly focused and refined for a Zinfandel, this version packs in deep flavors of black cherry, licorice and roasted...
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WS
94
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.87
12 bottles: $21.43
Dynamic and generous, this Zin combines old-school briar with sleek suppleness, serving up stylish flavors of...
WS
93
VM
90
Case only
Spirits
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $45.03
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White
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.41 $15.83
This is bright for a cream Sherry, with green tea and singed ginger notes out front, providing heft to the date,...
WS
91
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $64.00
An exceptionally old fino, perhaps the oldest on the market, at about 15 years, from a gentle, gracious family, who...
12 FREE
DC
96
WA
95
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.94 $15.83
Sea salt, Brazil nut and dried chamomile notes are racy and filigreed, with a stony edge on the finish. Drink now.
WS
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $69.95
6 bottles: $68.55
The NV El Tresillo Amontillado Fino is from the El Tresillo solera (hence the same name as the 1874 Amontillado). It...
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WA
90

Dornfelder Japanese Whiskey Sherry Zinfandel 750ml

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.

Sherry is made in a unique way using the solera system, which blends fractional shares of young wine from oak barrels with older, more mature wines. Sherry has no vintage date because it is blended from a variety of years. Rare, old sherries can contain wine that dates back 25 to 50 years or more, the date the solera was begun. If a bottle has a date on it, it probably refers to the date the company was founded.

Most sherries begin with the Palomino grape, which enjoys a generally mild climate in and around the triad of towns known as the "Sherry Triangle" and grows in white, limestone and clay soils that look like beach sand. The Pedro Ximenez type of sweet sherry comes from the Pedro Ximenez grape.

Sherry is a "fortified" wine, which means that distilled, neutral spirits are used to fortify the sherry. The added liquor means that the final sherry will be 16 to 20 percent alcohol (higher than table wines) and that it will have a longer shelf life than table wines.

The precise origins of what became known as the Zinfandel grape variety are uncertain, although it has clear genetic equivalents in both Puglia and Croatia. However, when it was brought to the New World in the mid 19th century, it became known as the Zinfandel, and has been consistently popular and widely grown ever since. These very dark and very round grapes have a remarkably high sugar content, resulting in relatively high levels of alcohol in the wines they are made into, with bottles often displaying as much as fifteen percent. What makes the Zinfandel such an interesting grape, though, is the fact that the flavors produced by this varietal vary considerably depending on the climate they are grown in. In cooler valley regions, the Zinfandel grapes result in wines which hold strong flavors of tart and sweet fruits; raspberry, redcurrant and sweet cherry, held in a very smooth and silky liquid. Conversely, warmer regions result in more complex and spicy notes, including anise, pepper and hedgerow berries.