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Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $378.18 $420.20
The 2020 Yquem, a blend of 75% Semillon and 25% Sauvignon Blanc, cropped at a measly 10hl/ha, has a very sensual...
12 FREE
VM
97
DC
96
Sale
Spirits
375ml
Bottle: $34.37 $36.18
12 bottles: $29.81
D’Usse was developed as a brand and is a bit cagey about age and appellation. It’s curiously dark amber for a...
VM
92
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $49.01
12 bottles: $48.02
Tasted single blind against its peers. Whereas last year the de Fargues 2008 was immediately forthcoming, a few...
12 FREE
WA
95
WS
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $31.20
12 bottles: $30.58
Bright yellow-gold. Spicy, ripe, complex aromas of peach, apricot, orange and nutmeg. Juicy, shapely and sweet, with...
12 FREE
VM
92
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $64.94
12 bottles: $63.64
Very textured, this is a complex wine. There is a strong sense of minerality here, along with flavors of ripe...
12 FREE
WE
94
WS
93
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $27.63 $30.70
93–95. Barrel Sample. This wine is rich and full while still having a tight structure. It shows a fine streak of...
WE
95
WS
94
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $29.94
93–95. Barrel Sample. This almost dry wine is full of botrytized fruit tones. Well balanced, it is likely to turn...
WE
95
DC
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $59.94
12 bottles: $58.74
93–95. Barrel Sample. This almost dry wine is full of botrytized fruit tones. Well balanced, it is likely to turn...
12 FREE
WE
95
DC
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $29.94
Vivid, quite intense nose with a spicy savoury twist to the sweet expressive fruit. The sweet palate has a nice...
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $29.63
Pale lemon-gold colored, the 2020 Doisy-Vedrines is a little closed to begin, opening out to reveal fragrant notes of...
WA
93
VM
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $47.20
12 bottles: $46.26
Pale lemon-gold colored, the 2020 Doisy-Vedrines is a little closed to begin, opening out to reveal fragrant notes of...
12 FREE
WA
93
VM
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $43.92
12 bottles: $43.04
12 FREE
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $19.93
12 bottles: $19.53
Off dry, light body, medium acid. Palate is stewed pear, followed by honey, ginger and lemon zest.
12 FREE
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $30.00
12 bottles: $27.36
Off dry, light body, medium acid. Palate is stewed pear, followed by honey, ginger and lemon zest.
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $59.94 $65.20
#4 Top100, 2008. Delivers lots of botrytis spice, with lemon tart and cooked apple. Full-bodied, with loads of cream...
12 FREE
WS
97
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $34.95
12 bottles: $32.30
Sweet, rich orange marmalade flavors, maybe not as imposingly powerful as Guiraud can be, but still with a great...
WE
95
WS
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $35.20
12 bottles: $34.50
Tasted as part of a vertical held at the chateau. It is clear that the aromatics on the 2008 are a little simpler and...
12 FREE
WA
93
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92
Case only
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $74.85
The 2009 Guiraud is one of the gems of Sauternes this vintage, one of the finest offerings in recent years. It has a...
12 FREE
VM
97
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Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $29.94 $33.20
Barrel Sample. This wine is packed with dry botrytis flavor, but also a bright freshness. Together they give an...
WE
96
WS
95
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $35.90
12 bottles: $35.18
One of the top Sauternes in this report is the 2016 Château Guiraud, a brilliant wine from a more challenging...
12 FREE
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96
JD
96

Cognac Jacquere Negramoll Mencia Semillon/sauvignon Blanc

For over three hundred years, Cognac has enjoyed its reputation as the king of brandies. Indeed, it is widely regarded as the finest drink to be distilled from grapes to be found anywhere in the world, and it is a testament to its producers and the master craftsmen who make it that this reputation has never faltered, and remains as strong as ever to this day.

Cognac is produced solely in the beautiful towns of Cognac and Jarnac, found about fifty miles north of Bordeaux, on the west coast of France. Here, around six thousand grape growers work exclusively in the production of white wine, used for the Cognac distilleries which are scattered throughout the region. The wines are made primarily from the Ugni Blanc or Trebbiano grape - one of the most commonly planted grape varietals in the world - which benefit from the cool, coastal climate and mineral rich soils which are found there. The wines themselves wouldn’t be suitable for drinking in themselves, as they are high in acid and low in alcohol, but this makes them ideal for distillation, and they can impart their wonderful, complex, rich flavors to the brandy.

Cognac varies quite significantly from bottle to bottle, depending on how long it has been aged for, and which appellation it comes from. The Cognac region is split into six separate Crus, all with their own distinctive characteristics, and the spirit can be aged from two years (VS) to six (Hors d’Age and Napoleon) and longer.