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750ml
Bottle:
$39.89
$41.99
12 bottles:
$36.47
Baked pear,orange peel and beeswax are elegantly displayed on the nose. The tastes are well balanced and harmonious....
750ml
Bottle:
$33.06
$34.80
We let our Red Pineau age, and we discover that’il loses its color with time, taking tiled reflections on its...
750ml
Bottle:
$37.94
$40.80
12 bottles:
$29.64
Scented with baked apple and vanilla, this amber-hued brandy—aged three to four years—shows oak, cedar and...
750ml
Bottle:
$47.43
$51.00
12 bottles:
$41.04
TOP 100 SPIRITS 2015. Almost like dessert in a glass, this deep topaz-hued Cognac has a scent that evokes baked apple...
750ml
Bottle:
$30.13
$32.40
12 bottles:
$24.49
A blend of unfermented grape juice mixed with unaged brandy then aged together for 18 months in oak. 17% abv
750ml
Bottle:
$34.95
$37.80
100% Arneis from the Roero, grown in marl and sandstone soils from the Pliocene era. This is a young, fresh version...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.00
100% Nebbiolo; this pomace is from grapes that were pressed for Barolo, from Barolo and Monforte d’Alba. Aged for 6...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.00
6 bottles:
$30.60
100% Nebbiolo from the Roero and Langhe. Flavored with an infusion of apricot wood for 2-3 months, then aged for 4-5...
375ml
Bottle:
$20.96
$22.06
Sumptuous confectionary aromas of chocolate orange, salted caramel, vanilla, almond butter, and orange peel. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$40.31
12 bottles:
$38.29
Sumptuous confectionary aromas of chocolate orange, salted caramel, vanilla, almond butter, and orange peel. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$171.46
$180.48
This version of Grand Marnier uses rare Cognac reserves aged up to 50 years. Here, the flavor and scent are closer to...
750ml
Bottle:
$67.72
$71.28
6 bottles:
$67.20
This noble cordial combines both the essence of pure citrus peel and the heady flavors of aged Cognac. The two find...
375ml
Bottle:
$26.99
Hennessy Very Special (V.S) is one of the most popular cognacs in the world. Matured in new oak barrels, Hennessy V.S...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.90
$42.00
Hennessy Very Special (V.S) is one of the most popular cognacs in the world. Matured in new oak barrels, Hennessy V.S...
750ml
Bottle:
$250.79
$263.99
Figgy pudding and date syrup are sweet but not cloying on the nose. The flavors are soft and subtle, layered with...
Cognac Grappa Sherry Mencia
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.
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.
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.