Calvados, Cinsault, Tequila

Pete Schell's Papillon and I have had a thing going for a while. If I spy it on a wine list it's often what I'll go for as it consistently delivers a great drinking experience and matches a range of foods. This year it's 66/31/3% grenache/cinsault/counoise 3%. Spacious, sapid and energetic, it's all raspberries and cranberries daubed with exotic spice, rose petals, sour cherry, dried herbs and stone. That whoosh of sour red plum at the end gets me every time. So good! (95) DAVE BROOKS, thewinecompanion

This is 66% grenache, 31% cinsault and 3% counoise. Always the shapeshifter is Papillon.
Cool and fresh. Lively and bright. A chillable, slurpy, crunchy red emerges. Red cherry, raspberry, cranberry, alpine herbs, some menthol-like lift, aniseed and pepper, a touch of white chocolate. Good energy here. Some real get up and go. Freshness implicit. Cool. MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

Light cherry red hue. Raspberry, blueberry and anise aromas. Bright on the palate: juicy raspberry fruits with hints of rosemary and dusty earth adding complexity. The freshness of the acidity makes for a deliciousness that really appeals, and tannins kick through at the back end to dry the finish. STUART KNOX, The Real Review

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!

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!

Grenache (60%) Shiraz (25%), Mataro (10%) and Cinsault (5%). It’s in keeping with my little Grenache theme this week, except it’s from the Yarra Valley!

It’s complex and a wine of many layers. Raspberry and blackberry, plenty of perfume and spice, hazelnut, something in the way of dried herbs and earth. Medium-bodied, no shortage of red and black fruit, rose oil, but also something a little more meaty and savoury in the mix, with fresh acidity, kind of like pomegranate, fine emery board tannin grip, and a fine ‘minerally’ finish of excellent length. Outstanding in 2021. (95) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

60/25/10/5% grenache/shiraz/mourvèdre/cinsault. The grenache spends 16 months in 1600L seasoned foudre, the rest matured in barriques (15% new for the shiraz). A wine that shows both the potential of these varieties and this blend at Mount Mary. Perfumed and spicy with red and black fruits and a little Mediterranean garrigue. Brightly fruited and with tannins that are juicy and balanced, this medium-bodied wine is already a treat to drink. PHILIP RICH, Halliday Wine Companion

Part of the wine team, Gabrielle has chosen a tequila that reminds us of the way tequila used to  be made, here's why:

La Gritona is made by tequilero verteran Melly Cardenas and her team made up mostly of local women (all the men have crossed the border to find work) in the highlands of Jalisco. Made for LA based Punk guitarist Andy Coranado, this reflects a tequila that was made before the mass market took hold. There's no colouring or flavouring added, it's smooth with great depth and a lovely warming belly. Everything is thoughtfully done, nothing rushed that would compromise the quality. Even the charming green bottles are hand blown from recycled Mexican glass, just an hour's drive from the distillery. No need to mix this, serve it over a bucket of ice with a squeeze of fresh lime (and if you've got abit of lingering salt on your lips from your swim - even better). GABRIELLE POY, PWS

'La Gritona' is Spanish for 'The Screamer'. It's an appropriate name seeing that one of the people behind this outstanding tequila is LA-based punk guitarist Andy Coronado. The other significant player is the renowned tequilero Melly Cárdenas, who fashions La Gritona at her small distillery in Valle de Guadalupe in the highlands of Jalisco. One of Mexico's few female master distillers, the fiercely independent Cárdenas--who has 20 years of quality Tequila production under her belt--shares Coronado's love of the exceptional and unconventional, and leads a team staffed by only local women.

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!

Aged in small apple brandy casks for over 12 months, this rich and generous liqueur is a result of blending pressed French and British heirloom apple varieties with our apple spirit.

Complex and well-structured with baked apple and spice, balanced with firm tannins and cask influence.

Our take on the traditional aperitif from North-West France – enjoy as such or serve with blue cheese or dessert. WILLIE SMITH

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!

Part of the wine team, Gabrielle has chosen a tequila that reminds us of the way tequila used to  be made, here's why:

La Gritona is made by tequilero verteran Melly Cardenas and her team made up mostly of local women (all the men have crossed the border to find work) in the highlands of Jalisco. Made for LA based Punk guitarist Andy Coranado, this reflects a tequila that was made before the mass market took hold. There's no colouring or flavouring added, it's smooth with great depth and a lovely warming belly. Everything is thoughtfully done, nothing rushed that would compromise the quality. Even the charming green bottles are hand blown from recycled Mexican glass, just an hour's drive from the distillery. No need to mix this, serve it over a bucket of ice with a squeeze of fresh lime (and if you've got abit of lingering salt on your lips from your swim - even better). GABRIELLE POY, PWS


'La Gritona' is Spanish for 'The Screamer'. It's an appropriate name seeing that one of the people behind this outstanding tequila is LA-based punk guitarist Andy Coronado. The other significant player is the renowned tequilero Melly Cárdenas, who fashions La Gritona at her small distillery in Valle de Guadalupe in the highlands of Jalisco. One of Mexico's few female master distillers, the fiercely independent Cárdenas--who has 20 years of quality Tequila production under her belt--shares Coronado's love of the exceptional and unconventional, and leads a team staffed by only local women.

For a Reposado, La Gritona is light on colour and sweetness--Coronado and Cárdenas want none of the flavours that mask many commercial Reposados like vanilla, chocolate and dulce de leche. Instead this is packed with delicious, honest and savoury, roasted agave flavor, reminiscent of the old-style 'rested' Tequila, before the mass market took hold: "It's tequila like our grandparents drank," says Cárdenas. Working with 9- to 10-year-old, mature Blue Weber agave grown in the iron-rich red soil of the Jalisco highlands, every step of production after harvest takes place under Cárdenas' own roof. The agave is steam-cooked in a single, thick-walled earthen oven for 24 hours and then allowed to rest for another 24 hours before crushing. The collected liquid is naturally fermented (no additives are used to push things along) in open steel vats at a rate dictated by the ambient air temperature and the wild yeasts, usually lasting between six to nine days. The double distillation takes place in small steel stills. Those bespoke bottles by the way are made from recycled Mexican glass, hand-blown just an hour's drive from the distillery. Coronado uses any recycled clear glass he can find (mostly old Coke bottles) then chips in a few Dos Equis bottles for the green tint!

The distilled blanco is then rested in reused American whiskey barrels for eight months before bottling. These low-impact second or third fill barrels are given only the lightest char which allows for the refreshing, sappy notes of the agave to shine through, resulting in a Tequila that sips and mixes perfectly in equal measure--it's crisp, clean and elegant and kills it in a Tommy's Margarita. BIBENDUM BAR

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!