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750ml
Bottle:
$45.00
• 100% Palomino.
• From a less-than-one-hectare parcel of 80-year-old vines planted in slate at high altitude....
750ml
Bottle:
$90.79
6 bottles:
$85.20
Compelling scents of cigar tobacco, dried herbs, dried flowers and toffee impress; flavors include oak, dates, prunes...
750ml
Bottle:
$33.24
$34.99
6 bottles:
$32.40
• Fat, full-throated and round. • Big, funky, exotic fruits and white flowers flavors. • Robust alcoholic twang...
750ml
Bottle:
$66.94
Aged 15 years and distilled from mostly the hybrid Baco grape, Château de Briat Hors d’Age is big, rich, and round...
750ml
Bottle:
$11.94
$13.43
12 bottles:
$11.52
Chateau de la Chesnaie is a family owned estate dedicated to the production of high quality Muscadet. This wine is...
750ml
Bottle:
$84.94
$87.60
12 bottles:
$83.24
Beautiful amber colour. Complex nose with notes of dried fruits and prune. Round attack with fatness releasing the...
750ml
Bottle:
$34.94
$36.00
12 bottles:
$34.24
Intense nose; very fruity aromas, banana and pear predominating, evolving to floral aromas, notes of white blossom...
750ml
Bottle:
$143.94
12 bottles:
$141.06
Deep orange colour, slightly amber with brown tints. Nose of toasty wood and hazelnut complemented by stone fruit...
750ml
Bottle:
$111.94
12 bottles:
$109.70
Deep orange colour, slightly amber with brown tints. Nose of toasty wood and hazelnut complemented by stone fruit...
750ml
Bottle:
$52.94
$55.20
12 bottles:
$52.44
Vibrant -yellow-gold in color, this full-bodied blend of Ugni Blanc and Baco Blanc resounds with a rich butterscotch...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.94
$14.30
12 bottles:
$12.35
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 30-year-old Muscadet vines planted on a gentle slope of sandy/silty soils overlaid on a...
Armagnac Melon de Bourgogne Sherry Mencia
Armagnac is a beloved grape brandy, hailing from the beautiful French region of Gascony, in the south-west of the country. It has been in constant production since sometime just before the fifteenth century, and over the decades has been the toast of royal households across Europe. Today, it is still enjoyed for its unique flavor profile and characteristics, and although it is understandably compared with Cognac, its more famous cousin, lovers of Armagnac claim that its distinctive rusticity and full body make it a superior brandy, perfect as a digestif or as an evening treat.
Armagnac is made from more than one grape varietal, but the major player in this drink is the fine Ugni Blanc grape, more commonly known by its Italian name, Trebbiano. This is one of the most widely planted grape varietals in the world, and grows beautifully in Gascony, which has a similar microclimate as its neighbouring wine region, Bordeaux. Armagnac grapes reveal fascinating and complex flavors after distillation, which commonly include christmas cake, earthy, oaky notes and praline.
Armagnac is sold under two categories - vintage, and non-vintage. A vintage Armagnac is made from a blend of grapes which have been grown in a single year, and will have the date printed on the label. Non-vintage Armagnacs, on the other hand, are labelled according to their age. V.S indicates that the brandy has been aged for a minimum of two years, VSOP for four years, XO six years, and Hors d’Age is a premium Armagnac which has been aged for at least ten years.
One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.
Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.
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.