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White
750ml
Bottle: $169.93
12 bottles: $166.53
Complex and super intense Palo Cortado, loaded with concentration. Salted caramel, toffee, walnut and some tangy...
12 FREE
WA
96
JS
96
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.25
12 bottles: $44.35
Always one of the more garrigue-scented Châteauneufs, the Brunels' 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape includes hints of...
12 FREE
WA
92
WS
92
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $16.94
12 bottles: $16.60
This wine shows aromas of red fruits (mainly morello cherries) and spices (licorice, grey pepper). On the palate, the...
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $17.87
This wine shows aromas of red fruits (mainly morello cherries) and spices (licorice, grey pepper). On the palate, the...
White
375ml
Bottle: $13.00
12 bottles: $12.35
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $37.62 $39.60
12 bottles: $34.20
Stews, game, strong cheeses – Best between 16°C and 18°C. Wine list comments: The bouquet is fine and complex....
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.09
12 bottles: $13.18
Intense purple red color. Intense nose of flowers (violet) and black fruits (black cherry, blackcurrant) combined...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.40 $26.00
This wine always overdelivers, and this vintage's blend of 50% Syrah, 38% Grenache, 7% Mourvèdre and 5% Counoise...
WE
92
VM
91
Case only
Spirits
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $45.03
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.94
12 bottles: $15.62
Heaps of dark berry fruit, along with classic Provence garrigue notes (rosemary, thyme, sage), and a broad, rich and...
Sale
White
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.41 $15.83
This is bright for a cream Sherry, with green tea and singed ginger notes out front, providing heft to the date,...
WS
91
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $61.55 $64.79
An exceptionally old fino, perhaps the oldest on the market, at about 15 years, from a gentle, gracious family, who...
12 FREE
DC
96
WA
95
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.94 $15.83
Sea salt, Brazil nut and dried chamomile notes are racy and filigreed, with a stony edge on the finish. Drink now.
WS
90
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.94 $31.19
Shows lovely focus and persistence, with a prominent thread of bitter almond that runs from start to finish, while...
WS
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $59.93 $64.79
The NV Villapanes Oloroso wears a dark amber-brown robe and has a very intense nose, showing some marmalade, dark...
12 FREE
WA
91
Sale
White
500ml
Bottle: $19.90 $20.80
12 bottles: $19.00
Nothing besides glorious dried fig and raisin aromas are the greeting on this brown, lusty, sweet Sherry. Given the...
WE
95
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.94
12 bottles: $13.94
This deeply coloured wine has an inviting nose of dark cherry and chocolate. The palate is dense and rich, with...
12 FREE
DC
95
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $29.93
12 bottles: $29.33
Lots of ripe black fruits (blackberries, black cherries) emerge from the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Hauts De...
12 FREE
JD
93
WA
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $44.40
12 bottles: $43.51
Good depth of colour. Intense berry and juniper freshness with well-integrated oak lending a little background spice....
12 FREE
DC
92

Japanese Whiskey Mencia Red Rhone Blend Sherry

Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.

The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.

Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.

While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.

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.