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White
750ml
Bottle: $42.00
12 bottles: $41.16
Attractive and nervy nose with white pepper funk, wild berries and grapefruit. Full-bodied and flavorful for a rosé...
12 FREE
JS
94
WA
93
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.00
12 bottles: $23.52
• 100% Listán Blanco (Palomino). • Sourced from ungrafted centenary vines at 500-600m altitude in the village of...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $45.00
• 100% Palomino. • From a less-than-one-hectare parcel of 80-year-old vines planted in slate at high altitude....
12 FREE
Sale
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $223.15 $234.89
Delicate vanilla and apricot perfume this Cognac. The palate is more forward, showing mouthwatering butterscotch,...
12 FREE
WE
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.93 $13.43
Dark forest fruit leading the nose, with touches of green bell pepper. Fruit forward, savoury finish. (Bronze) - DWWA...
DC
88
WE
88
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.90 $13.43
12 bottles: $12.76
A beautiful red colour with garnet glints An expressive and complex nose, with primary aromas of toast, vanilla and...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $510.48 $567.20
Lead-pencil aromas with currants and plums, too. Full body, silky tannins and a focused and very refined finish. It's...
12 FREE
WE
94
JS
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $498.95 $516.00
While few people get excited about second wines, the reality today is that the top estates are making such a strict...
12 FREE
JD
94
WS
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $384.75 $427.50
Exquisitely fine tannins to the currant, lead-pencil and chocolate character. The palate is full, yet very refined...
12 FREE
JS
97
WA
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $486.63 $540.70
The second wine of the estate, the 2019 Carruades De Lafite offers a beautiful, Lafite-like bouquet of crème de...
12 FREE
JS
96
JD
96
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $370.08 $411.20
So perfumed and subtle with roses, lavender, sage, and currants. Medium-bodied. So much Spanish cedar, cigar box,...
12 FREE
JS
96
DC
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $236.52 $262.80
94-95 Soft and attractive character to this wine, showing a polished-tannin frame and a juicy center-palate. Medium...
12 FREE
JS
95
VM
93
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $34.10
The 2020 Céres, from Clare and Gonzalgue Lurton, comes from a 8-hectare estate owned by Clare and Gonzalgue Lurton,...
12 FREE
VM
88
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $232.38 $258.20
The second wine of Château Ausone, always produced in limited quantities, provides a fine echo of the top wine. Bold...
12 FREE
WE
96
JS
95
Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.80
12 bottles: $19.40
A tight and focused second wine from Potensac with currant and lemon-rind character. Medium body, fine tannins and a...
JS
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.83 $19.80
An attractive nose with red fruit and an array of red flowers that lead to a palate that has red fruit at its core...
JS
91
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $19.99
A fresh, clean wine with currants, spice and light chocolate character. Medium body and fine tannins. Easy finish. A...
WE
89
JS
89
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $486.00 $540.00
Initially the wine is all firm tannins, but then there is a pure line of fresh black fruits that comes through, with...
12 FREE
WE
95
DC
94
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $509.85
Intense and enticing campfire smoke, this has beautiful rich fruits behind the grilled aromatics, and is open and...
12 FREE
DC
94
WA
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $426.60 $474.00
The 2008 Angélus offers a still youthful, vibrant color as well as a classic Angélus bouquet of spice box, black...
12 FREE
JD
95
DC
94

Cognac Sherry Mencia Red Bordeaux

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.

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.

There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.