Calvados, Bitters, mencia, Cab...

Only the best grower Champagnes have the kind of interest, sense of place and attention to detail this sparkling wine offers. Bottled at a low pressure of 2.5/3 atmospheres (most Champagnes are between five and six), this wine has a more delicate fizz than most. The fruit is all estate-grown (certified biodynamic) and comes from the youngest vines in Huet’s Première Côte vineyards. Crafted in a hybrid méthode ancestrale style (only natural sugar in the must was used for the second fermentation), it’s made in years that favour dry wine production.

Disgorged in October 2023 following 36 months on lees in the Huet cellars, the 2019 release has just over 1 g/L residual sugar and was dosed with the 2018 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux. To quote sparkling wine authority Peter Liem on the style: “It’s a magical, intensely expressive wine, and ridiculously inexpensive for the quality”. Let’s hear that again: ridiculously inexpensive for the quality. 2019 is a magical, fleshy mineral release for this benchmark Loire sparkling.

Cartology is a vinous exploration of Cape heritage. It’s intended to be a picture of the Cape seen through the lens of her old vineyards in a given vintage. The cuveé is composed of rare and extraordinary parcels of mature dryland bushvines, of heritage grapes, namely Chenin Blanc and Sémillon. These grapes have been planted in the Cape for centuries. Cartology has become our staple offering. It serves as a poster child for the project, and also seems to have become a flag bearer for Cape heritage wine in general.

The grapes were hand sorted and whole bunch pressed. The juice was very lightly settled (we like very cloudy raw juice) with no additions to the raw juice, wild fermentation took place in cements eggs, clay pots, foudres, and old barrels (various sizes). Fermentation of various parcels lasted anywhere between 3 weeks and 11 months. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further five months prior to bottling. Very simple, careful winemaking.

The nose shows citrus oil and pear, with some subtle floral/honey tones. The palate is very well proportioned, with firm mid-palate structure, medium rich mouth feel, and long carry. Flavour persists and even intensifies throughout its length. The wine finishes dry and saline, refreshing the palate. This vintage has a sappy, thirst-quenching quality about it.

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The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous


This stunning dry Vouvray has such an exciting energy on the simultaneously focused and creamy medium-bodied palate. I love the juicy core, then the way the wet stone character builds to an impressive intensity in the long, precise finish. Still really youthful and with great aging potential.
STUART PIGOTT, JamesSuckling.com

Again this moelleux cuvée has a very gentle residual sugar, with just 25 g/l. Unsurprisingly it feels very pure and fresh on the nose, with a very focused style, with scents of peach leaf and some lightly honeyed orchard fruit. The palate is pure, fresh and bright, mixing a pithy substance of both orchard and citrus fruits, fresh and pure, with a very fine acid backbone. This is quite striking in the finish, where it is long and cleansed with wonderful vibrancy. Very good potential here but it needs time.”
CHRIS KISSACK, thewinedoctor.com

Chidaine does not release a Moelleux from his Vouvray vineyards every year—the balance has to be just so—and so you can be sure that when he does it is worth seeking out. It's drawn from the clay-limestone vineyards (of Le Bouchet, L’Espagnole, L’Homme, La Chatterie et al.) and made in the same fashion as Les Tuffeaux. As we have seen chez Huet, 2018 was a stunning year for sweeter styles of Chenin Blanc and here the song remains the same.

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Fruit from a 1996-planted vineyard. Four weeks post-fermentation maceration, matured in French barriques (35% new) for 15 months. Virtually identical winemaking to the Original Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon but, as always, this is the denser, more powerful and structured wine. On the nose there's a core of perfectly ripened black fruits, crushed violets, dark chocolate and graphite. The medium bodied, firmly structured and persistent palate is equally good, and anyone fortunate enough to still have a bottle 10–15 years (if not longer) from now will be well rewarded. 97 PHILIP RICH, wine companion

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec is juicy, though never generous, but still a comforting Vouvray that remains focused; there's sufficient tension from the acidity despite the season's warmth. Welcoming and friendly from the off, there's fine fruit here with a pretty talc note. It has a sense of persistence and presence that elevates this wine from purely a fruity Chenin. Really charming. REBECCA GIBB MW

The aromas of floral honey, cashew nuts and butter are married to a brioche character reminiscent of good Champagne, but this is completely still. On the medium-bodied palate, the interplay of honeyed creaminess and elegant acidity is enchanting, the wine gliding over your palate. Long, supple finish. STUART PIGOTT, JamesSuckling.com

Perched on the Première Côte just above the town of Vouvray, Clos du Bourg is a monopole and generally regarded as the greatest of the three Huet single vineyards. The domaine has farmed it since 1953 and purchased it in 1963. Clos du Bourg is arguably the greatest vineyard in the region, producing some of the most powerful, thrilling, long-lived white wines in Europe. With only one metre of topsoil over solid limestone, the vines tap almost immediately into the mineral resources underneath. The warmth of the site, combined with the mineral complexion of the soils, results in rich, super long-lived wines that seem to effortlessly combine intense minerality with generous texture and concentration.

The 2020 Roche aux Moines is a full bodied, round shouldered style with supple texture and a reassuring sense of grip from a combination of acid, phenolics and the schistous/sandstone soils of this famous vineyard. It's a wine that takes its 14% alcohol with ease and glides along, providing long, long length. Having spent 18 months on lees in barrel, there is an integrated nutty oak and pastry-like character within the wine's core. Mouth-watering acidity makes you want more. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

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Merenzao is the same variety as Trousseau (and Bastardo in Portugal) and was probably brought to Ribeira Sacra by the Cistercian monks who set up camp here in the Middle Ages. Algueira’s Merenzao vines have an average age of 80 years and are rooted in a steep slope of gneiss, quartz and slate in the Amandi Gorge. The fruit sees a wild yeast, 100% whole-bunch ferment, is pressed by foot and aged for 12 months in old oak and some local chestnut vessels.

The result is an extraordinary, unique wine with a complex perfume of finely detailed fruit characters that recalls wild cherry steeped with blood orange, rose and a tincture of wild herb. There’s more colour and muscular density from the solar year, yet it remains super lucid and tender and finishes long, leaving behind a lick of elegant tannin and a perfume of sweet red berries and smoky minerals. This is one tasty Bastardo!

+ Trophy Best Cabernet Blend 2022 Yarra Valley Wine Show +
A blend of 80/20% 1995-planted cabernet and 1990-planted malbec. Matured in 225L barriques (15% new). A brilliant crimson purple. Aromas of cassis, blackberries, violets and a gentle whiff of cedar emanate from this beautifully put-together wine. Elegant, medium bodied and with super-supple tannins, Sarah Crowe has crafted an approachable and seductive cabernet. The well-deserved winner of the Best Cabernet Blend trophy at the 2022 Yarra Valley Wine Show. (96) PHILIP RICH

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The 2019 Camalaione is a dense, full-bodied wine. It is the most opulent of the wines in this range and also one that is the most similar to how these wines were made in the past. Deep, inky and layered, Camalaione has a ton to offer. The 2019 was vinified in amphora and spent two years in French oak barrels, 50% new, then a year in cement. The blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Syrah. (96) ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2022 Le Mont Demi-Sec is less fruity and charming than, say, Clos du Bourg; its tension and line come from its flinty terroir. Despite its 21g/L residual sugar, it retains a sense of tautness without being totally linear. Radish and pear notes linger on the long finish. This is grown-up demi-sec. REBECCA GIBB MW

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Bright and lifted aromatics with intense dark fruits of mulberry, blackberry, blueberry and plum. These fruit notes then give way to tobacco leave, cigar box, sage and bay leaf. The oak is subtle and integrated with notes of vanilla bean, cinnamon and cedar.

The palate is dense and rich in all of the Cabernet fruit spectrum- blackberry, blueberry, red currants and black cherry. Fresh acidity and violets sit in behind this as well as background notes of nutmeg, clove and earth. Tannins are dense, mouth coating and velvet-like with subtle, dusty oak notes on the finish. Moss Wood

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

One of Australia’s great cabernets. This from a cooler season highlights and accentuates the typical bright red fruits and blue fruit mix, especially on the nose. It’s aromatic and perfumed with an African violet scent. The palate as always is so exquisitely balanced and refined. Since 1989 the cabernet has been augmented with the floral bright fruit of cabernet franc and the darker robust black fruits of petit verdot. The palate delivers with a gentle restraint yet there is power deep within. The chalky tannins define a long and focussed finish. A deceptive medium bodied wine that will cellar for many years. (98) RAY JORDAN

 

Deep bright purple-red colour leading into a stylish bouquet of sweet mulberry and other berry fruits, violets and cassis, succulent and mouth-filling, with masses of fine emery-like tannins that run the length of the palate adding authority, structure, length and refreshment to the aftertaste. Concentrated, superripe blackberry, cassis and mulberry flavours; oak tucked discreetly into the background. (98) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

Really delivers as you might expect from this excellent concentrated and powerfully frame vintage in Margaret River. It’s dominant cabernet with smaller portions of merlot, cabernet franc and malbec. Typical of this wine since switching to biodynamics, it is bright and brilliant with a nervy tense energy to drive the palate. The succulent fruit is harness by fine chalky tannins and neatly played oak of which 55% was new. A wine of extraordinary elegance and poise with a few of many decades. (98) RAY JORDAN

Needless to say, Margaret River enjoyed another superb vintage with the 2022 season. Slightly cooler, Cullen report that it was a vintage of “immense perfume and texture”. The wine is a wonderfully vibrant purple in colour. The nose gives up plums, cassis, spices including nutmeg, chocolate, mocha, bay leaves, cigar box notes – think a freshly opened box of Cohiba Siglo VI – and near perfect oak integration. This is finely balanced and exhibiting immense length on a palate that sees the emergence of aniseed, mulberries and coffee beans. An alluringly supple texture with the silkiest of tannins, though plenty of them – there really is some grip here. This will easily sail through fifteen to twenty years in a good cellar. (98) KEN GARGETT, Wine Pilot

Diana Madeline. The name evokes a lot of emotions, for what the woman stood for then and what the wine stands for now. The 2021 vintage equals 50 years of cabernet sauvignon plantings at Cullen. When released in early 2023, it was on what would have been her 100th birthday. It’s a wine that can come from nowhere else, so strong is its sense of place. Expect to swoon over aromas of roses, violets and mulberries doused in baking spices, a ferruginous quality as much as detailed if persuasive tannins. It’s complex, complete and structured. Gosh, what a wine. What a woman. The perfect combination. (97) JANE FAULKNER, James Halliday

Very deep, dark, impenetrable purple colour; a gorgeous fragrance of spicy superripe berries and a hint of licorice, super concentrated and almost essency. Traces of soy sauce and nori. The wine is highly concentrated on the palate; powerful, profound and rich, with masses of sweetly ripe berry fruit and no sign of herbal varietal touches. A profound and multi-dimensional cabernet that will richly reward long-term cellaring. It drinks superbly already but it would be sacrilege to open it before it's had more time to build the tertiary complexity that we know will come with time. (99) HUON HOOKE, therealreview.com

The 2021 John Riddoch Limited Release Cabernet Sauvignon is a brilliant wine. It is achingly intense yet is defined by its levity, which is not a common attribute in Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine expounds the virtues of the red gravel in which the fruit was grown, via its iodine and crushed shells, cassis and blood, sweet marrow and tobacco. It tastes so clearly of the place, which is a wonderful thing. The back palate swells with flavor, framed by the earth and the attuned oak. This is a tribute to the earth, an ode to it. Plentiful tannins bob along on the current of fruit. This will cellar interminably. It's up there in both quality and feel with the 2010, or so I think. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. (98) ERIN LARKIN, wineadvocate.com

One of the best vintages in Coonawarra for many years. Little wonder this release of the John Riddoch is one of the best since the initial release from the 1982 vintage. Aromas of violets and red berry with a slightly cherry glaze character adding further intrigue. The palate is medium weight and refined but with tremendous power and persistence. A combination of hogsheads and barriques has been used to deliver the perfect level of oak. One of the best of these I can recall. (98) RAY JORDAN, rayjordan.com.au

"In one word - 'epic'.  Having just returned from ten days in Bordeaux tasting a vast number of youthful Cabernets, among other styles of wine, if this beauty had been slipped into the mix, it would have lounged somewhere near the top of the pile…John Riddoch is more akin to an elite Saint-Estèphe than a typical New World Cabernet…'21 JR is pure, stunningly plush, deeply fruited but seemingly weightless and incredibly detailed. It is a superb thoroughbred with impeccable balance, and it is as relevant for an old-world geek as it is for a new-world disciple. It is time that Wynns John Riddoch sat alongside the acknowledged world Cabernet greats, and this vintage will undoubtedly help make this dream a reality. (19.5/20) MATTHEW JUKE

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The 2020 Finca Capeliños comes from a warm year, but the grapes have been harvested earlier in recent years to achieve moderate alcohol and macerations have been shortened to get wines that are more elegant and harmonious. The 2020s are quite open and expressive, and the Capeliños displays impressive notes of violet pastille and a faintly Mediterranean note of aromatic herbs. (96) LUIS GUTIERREZ

This is from a plot planted with the classical field blend found in the old vineyards, mainly Mencía with a myriad of other varieties-Caíño, Sousón, Brancellao, Merenzao, Negreda, Garnacha, Mouratón... The full clusters fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. This is explosive with a baroque, exotic and decadent nose redolent of flowers, soy sauce, violet pastille, spices and herbs. It's a little spirity (it's 14.2% alcohol), which probably adds to the showy profile. The palate is a little more backward-it's structured and has abundant, fine tannins, still a little hard. 800 bottles produced. (97+) LUIS GUTIERREZ

70%Cab. Sav. 30% Sangiovese.The 2017 Camartina is going to need a few years to open. That will be helpful as the wine ages, but it also means the Camartina does not have the opulence readers are likely to expect in this warm, dry year. Time in the glass brings out brighter tonalities of fruit and floral overtones that give a good idea to where the 2017 is heading. Readers should be in no rush here. ANTONIO GALLONI, vinous.com

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Poli are best known for there fine range of premium Grappa, liquers and distillates from North east Italy. Established in 1898 this quality producer has over a 100 years' experience with distilling. Recently they have produced a unique Gin - MARCONI 46. Artisanaly distilled and obtained from a unique infusion of juniper berries, muscat grape, mountain pine, cembra pine, mint, cardamom and coriander reminding of the Asiago plateau in the north of the Veneto region, where the Poli family comes from. This is a heady and perfumed gin that is at once powerful and refined. A truly unique product that speaks of its home in the hills and of the philosophy of this family run operation.

In addition to this month's Italian Mixed dozen we thought we would like to offer a Negroni pack featuring this incredible product. We have matched it with our very own Vermouths and Bitters from its western counterpart Turin Vermouth. Their philosophy is to maintain tradition through the production while sourcing aromats and herbs from all over the world and based on the local wines of the Piemonte's hills. Together this forms once of the world great classic cocktail- the Negroni.

This classic was first created for Count Camillo Negroni in 1919 at Florence's Café Casoni.  A century later and millions of Negroinis, and this has sealed itself as one of the world's greatest classics. Below is the deceptively simple and delicious cocktail. We have included 2 bottles each of the Turin Bitters and the Drapo Rosso Vermouth so once you have gone through your first bottle of Marconi 46 all you have to do is grab another bottle or choose any one of your favourite local or international gins.

Ingredients

1 oz. Italian Bitters
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Sweet vermouth

Instructions

Stir Tuve Bitters, gin, and vermouth in an ice-filled tumbler; garnish with orange slice.

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Lovely aromas of roses, red cherries, melted chocolate and redcurrants. Medium-bodied with silky tannins. A lot of freshness and energy here. Pretty is a good word. Bright red fruit and rose petals. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. JAMES SUCKLING

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The 2020 Camartina is a super-classic edition of this wine. Cabernet Sauvignon drives the blend, but there is also a ton of site character. Readers will have to be patient, as this is very much a wine for the cellar. Strong mineral inflections, black pepper, lavender, mint and licorice add layers of aromatic intrigue. ANTONIO GALLONI, Vinous.com

Aromas of black and red currants with dried flowers, sandalwood and dark cherries. Medium- to full-bodied with well-integrated tannins that coat and caress the mouth nicely. Shows a focus and modernity. From organically grown grapes. Best in three or four years. JAMES SUCKLING

Mellow and harmonious, offering plum, black currant, blackberry, iron, leather and menthol flavours. Juicy acidity and dusty tannins lift the flavours and guide them to the long conclusion. Fresh and complex on the finish. BRUCE SANDERSON, Wine Spectator

Cabernet ……  who drinks Cabernet anymore?   I mean we can't all hang out in exclusive "Gentlemen's Clubs in Mayfair" can we?

So I was super surprised when I had a chance to taste an older (2018) vintage of the Forman Cabernet a few months ago which was superb - so I couldn't wait to have a crack at the new vintage.  California cabernet - all big, juicy and ripe fruit….. right?  Nope - definitely not.  There were layers of blueberry fruit, dusty chocolate, coffee bean, black cherry - and lovely hint of sweet spice and graphite minerality.  Also a hint of oak supporting the rich - but definitely not over ripe - fruit.    With a little time in the glass fantastic savoury notes popped up … think sage, bay leaf all adding wonderful complexity and interest to the wine.

This wasn't an over ripe jammy new world Cabernet … nor was it an austere/mouth puckering Bordeaux  - just a wonderful balanced wine - drink up! MATT O'CONNOR, PWS



The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon is a powerful, deep wine that marries elegance and finesse in a way few people can do, like Ric Forman. Rich and sumptuous in the glass, with terrific depth, the 2020 has so much to offer. Black cherry, mocha, licorice, spice, incense and new leather are all dialed up. Although it is early, this 2020 is shaping up to be one of the finer wines of the year.
(95) ANTONIO GALLONI, vinous

The 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley has to be seen as a success in the vintage, revealing a solid bouquet of red and black fruits, tobacco leaf, cigar, and toasted spices. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Cabernet with a good sense of balance, moderate tannins, and outstanding length. It's well done and should evolve for another decade at a minimum. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it always showed well. JEB DUNNUCK

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The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is dense, pliant and wonderfully expressive. Ric Forman's wines are always on the restrained side, but the 2015 packs a good bit of punch. Sweet red cherry, raspberry, sage, mint, and rose petal overtones all add to the wine's precision and nuance. In 2015, Forman took in fruit from Thorevilos, which he co-manages with David Abreu, but ultimately decided to add that juice to the Cabernet Sauvignon rather than bottle it separately. Dollops of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec round out the blend. This is one of the classiest wines of the vintage. ANTONIO GALLONI

Cabernet sauvignon from Yarra Yering's original 1969 plantings. Matured in 225L French barriques (40% new). A bright, medium crimson red. So perfumed with its aromas of dark cherry, bay leaf, cedar and some tobacco box. Lovely fruit purity here. Medium bodied with supremely fine cabernet tannins, this is the veritable iron fist in a velvet glove. Today I slightly favour the Dry Red Wine No. 1, but for anyone lucky enough to have a bottle of each 10 to 15 years from now it should make for a great tasting! (97) PHILIP RICH

The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is a polished, silky offering. The 2021 is sleek and well-balanced, but despite its bright future, is also very young and in need of time. Building with time in the glass, this is classy, deep and exceptionally well-tuned. ANTONIO GALLONI