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Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $61.70 $62.80
Forward with punchy reduction on opening, the 2019 Chardonnay Willamette Valley pours a bright medium straw color and...
12 FREE
JD
95
WE
94
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $43.68
This rich, silky sipper entices with caramel and vanilla aromas. The palate opens with deep toffee and caramel and a...
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WE
95
UBC
94
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $78.00
6 bottles: $72.00
TOP 100 SPIRITS 2022. Look for a deep amber hue and bold, enticing caramel and coffee bean aromas, plus a hint of red...
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WE
96
UBC
95
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $161.28
6 bottles: $157.20
Sweetgrass and notes of leather waft up from this beautifully aged rum. In the mouth white pepper dustiness...
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UBC
98
WE
97
Rapid Ship
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $32.62
Classic aromas of tropical fruits, spice, and funk are balanced and inviting. Sweet-tart in the mouth, flavors of...
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UBC
97
WE
93
Rapid Ship
Spirits
1.0Ltr
Bottle: $27.71
12 bottles: $26.32
Candied ginger, ripe mango, and fresh sugar cane are sweet and fresh on the nose. Rich and silky in the mouth,...
UBC
92
Sale
Spirits
750ml
Bottle: $29.87 $31.44
12 bottles: $21.89
Candied ginger, ripe mango, and fresh sugar cane are sweet and fresh on the nose. Rich and silky in the mouth,...
UBC
92
White
750ml
Bottle: $33.95
The 2021 Chardonnay SOLdeSOL, from Malleco, Traiguén, was fermented in one-tenth new barrels. Intense yellow in hue....
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VM
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.11 $12.75
12 bottles: $10.69
White
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $21.80
6 bottles: $18.34
White
750ml
Bottle: $44.89
6 bottles: $43.99
Sleek yet richly styled, with generous flavors of pear, orange blossom and lemon that glide on a dynamic finish....
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WS
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.89 $19.99
Blended between our 4 vineyard sites, Argyle Chardonnay displays the tension of the Eola-Amity Hills, the delicacy of...
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.63
12 bottles: $15.32
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.94
12 bottles: $21.50
All fruit was hand harvested in the cool of dawn, immediately destemmed and pressed and the juice settled in...
WS
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.89
12 bottles: $26.35
Abundant fruit with a slight tropical note backed by judicious oak. The fuller viscosity that is a signature of this...
White
750ml
Bottle: $49.70
Lovely aromas of apricot, lavender and caramel ebb into bright flavors of lemon/lime, and a fresh, lengthy finish has...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $35.90
12 bottles: $35.18
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White
750ml
Bottle: $42.53
6 bottles: $41.68
COLOR: Medium Gold. NOSE: Pronounced pear and golden yellow apple lined with a floral note of jasmine, apricot, and...
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Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.13 $15.93
12 bottles: $10.46
Flavors of white peach, apple, and lemon. Notes of almonds and vanilla, hints of oak. Serve with grilled prawns over...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.89 $28.40
12 bottles: $27.33
Stylish and elegant, there's juicy peach, citrus and melon flavors with accents of lemon blossom, a crushed rock...
WS
91

Chardonnay Primitivo Rum

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

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.

It is difficult to categorize rum as a single spirit, because of all the spirits found around the globe, rum is perhaps the one which varies most dramatically from place to place. Clear, white rum - a favorite for cocktail drinkers - is perhaps the most prevalent example found today, but there is a whole world of darker, spiced and molasses-rich rums to explore, thanks to the fascinating history and wide reach this drink has.

Rum came about during the colonial times, when sugar was a huge and world-changing business. The molasses left over from the sugar production industry could easily be distilled into a delicious alcoholic drink, and provided extra income for the sugar traders. Before long, it became a favorite of sailors and transatlantic merchants, and it quickly spread across the Caribbean and Latin America, where it remains highly popular today.

The production of rum is a basic and simple one - you take your molasses, add yeast and water, and then ferment and distil the mixture. However, as is often the case, the devil is in the detail. The variation in yeasts found from place to place, the maturation period, the length of the fermentation and the type of stills and barrels used provide the rainbow-colored variation that gives rum its spectrum of styles and characteristics.