Do we ship to you?.
750ml
Bottle:
$12.57
12 bottles:
$12.32
Colour: Intense bright red colour with violet reflections.
Nose: Flavours of prune, tobacco and vanilla.
Taste: Dry,...
750ml
Bottle:
$40.68
$42.82
6 bottles:
$36.32
Rich and smooth with deep, intriguing notes of roasted grain, vanilla, and honey that are unlike any other.
700ml
Bottle:
$56.54
$59.52
In Basque language, BIKKUN means a thing you do with someone, in pairs. This is the origin of our BIKKUN Vatted Malt...
750ml
Bottle:
$22.95
12 bottles:
$22.49
The 2022 Nero d'Avola is dark and woodsy in the glass, with dried blueberries and exotic spices lifted by sage hints....
375ml
Bottle:
$65.94
The acidity of the Riesling grape keeps this sweet dessert wine in balance with notes of honey and caramel.
750ml
Bottle:
$54.04
$56.88
6 bottles:
$50.87
This unique newcomer—a French single-malt whisky finished in used Cognac barrels—tastes like a soft, golden...
700ml
Bottle:
$65.36
$68.80
6 bottles:
$61.82
Golden and delicately perfumed with peach, white flowers and tropical fruit, this newly-launched 10-year-old French...
750ml
Bottle:
$11.94
$13.01
An excellent deep, spicy, intriguing red wine from Sicily, the 2023 Nero d’Avolo is a tank-fermented and aged, dark...
375ml
Bottle:
$8.18
Soju, a very popular spirit sold in Korea, is a clear alcohol made from rice and other cereal distillation. One of...
375ml
Bottle:
$8.18
Chum-Churum Rich is a bolder soju for those desiring a more noted taste of the soju spirit. Chum-Churum is also...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.62
$15.13
The 2022 Nero d'Avola mixes sweet herbal tones with crushed black cherries and wet stone to form an inviting bouquet....
Ice Wine Nero D'avola Other Whiskey Savatiano
Italy’s largest island, Sicily, has a wine producing history that can put most other European regions to shame. It was producing quality wines before the days of the Roman empire, and even the Ancient Greeks were not the first to cultivate vines on the island. For as long as anyone knows, the key grape varietal of Sicily has been Nero d’Avola, the beautiful, deep blue skinned grape which produces the region’s characterful, powerful red wines. While in the past, Nero d’Avola was mainly used as a blending grape, due to its deep color and intensely full body, it is today being increasingly celebrated as a single varietal wine grape, and is perfect for those who like their wines boisterous, loud and strong.
Nero d’Avola is grown pretty much everywhere on Sicily, as demand for wines made from this grape have never been higher. Despite its power and body, it is quite a versatile grape - it can be aged in oak barrels, which produces a dense and dark wine which puts its intense characteristics to good use, but it is also often drunk quite young, which allows its jammy, plummy character to come forward. It is also used to make rose wines in some appellations of Sicily, demonstrating a softer side to this otherwise heavy, deeply flavorful grape.
Savatiano is probably Greece's most well known and most widely grown grape varietal, as it is the primary grape used in the production of Retsina, where the fermenting juices of the Savatiano varietal are flavored with pine resin in order to make this distinctive and famous wine. One of the reasons for the wide cultivation of this grape is due to its hardiness, and resistance to drought conditions. In the sun-drenched and dry, rocky Greek landscapes, this makes it an ideal vine to grow for wine-makers who require a strong and bounteous yield each year.
However, there are plenty of examples of Greek white wines which use the Savatiano grape but withhold from the addition the pine resin flavoring, allowing the true characteristics of this varietal to shine through. The result is often very pleasing indeed, with Savatiano grapes generally producing extremely well balanced and rounded white wines, with a juicily fruity flavor. Their aromas can vary quite a lot, with many Savatiano wines bearing the fragrance of citrus fruits, and also occasionally having a strong floral aroma reminiscent of elder and rose. Due to the relatively low acidity of Savatiano grapes, the wines which use them (including Retsina) generally bolster themselves with the addition of smaller quantities of more acidic varieties, such as Assyrtiko or Rhoditis, in order to improve their sometimes weak structure.
Additional Information on Greek Wines
Greek Wines
Ancient Greek Wines – A Brief History of Wine in Greece
The Myth of Dionysus, Greek God of Wine
What is Retsina?