Calvados, Sake, White Blend, c...

Known more as a cutting-edge cider maker, Eric Bordelet was a top sommelier at Arpege in Paris, before returning home to Normandy in 1992 to take over the family business. He biodynamically grows more than 20 apple varieties and 15 pear varieties. JASON WILSON, Vinous

Eric Bordelet approaches Cider-making with the same intensity as a passionate oenologist brings to winemaking. Bordelet worked as sommelier in the leading 3 star Parisian restaurant, ‘Arpege’ where he became deeply familiar with the top winemakers and wineries of France. In 1992 he took over the tiny patch of family farmed orchards in Charchigné, in the heart of Normandy’s premium Cider producing area. Since then he has set about rescuing the ancient ‘heirloom’ varieties of pears and apples that produce tiny quantities and amazing flavour.

Produced from pear trees estimated to be about 300 years old. Poiré Granit has 25-80 grams of sugar per liter, yet it doesn't taste particularly sweet.  This is due to the tannin and acidity, which Bordelet says is twice as high as the apple! Stunning as aperitif or with cheese or desserts. With just 4% alc/vol this can be enjoyed any time. Cider simply doesn't get better than this !!

Produced by the highly regarded Kitajima Sake Brewery. This Yuzushu uses all natural ingrediens and is made with Sake, sea salt and four times the the yuzu of of most regular yuzushu. It's rich and luxurious, concenetrated but wonderfully fresh and so distinctive. A PWS favourite!

The name Fukuju is derived from one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology. Fukuju is a relatively small brewery, making artisan and craft sake. Current owner Yasafuku San is 13th generation.

The house style is very elegant. The water in Nada/Kobe is called Miyamizu, and it is hard water by Japanese standards, full of minerals and is famous water in the ‘sake world’. Nada regional style is dry and has good grip with spiciness.

Water’s influence is very significant in Sake style, and Fukuju use this Miyamizu as well as blending pure water (filtered soft water) to make particular style of Sake. They take ‘water’ seriously in making and developing new way of Sake making.

Fukuju is traditional with a modern approach at the same time. Since the large earthquake in this area in 1995, they built their brewery which is Seismic structure, and are progressing to create ecofriendly and sustainable way of Sake making.

The water in Nada/Kobe is called Miyamizu and is famous because it's full of minerals. Fukuju Junmai Sake is dry and has good grip with spiciness.

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!

Named after the mythical octopus which is said to guard Shiga bay. This robust sake has a rich mix of fruit and savoury elements, up front is green melon, white peach and edamame leading to nougat and cream followed by savoury undertones of shitake mushroom, rice bran, and almonds with a hint of salt & pepper to close. An elegant, sessionable sake for both dining and imbibing.

A sense of elegance, energy, and complexity with nuance. Mouth-washing acidity with a focus on freshness. Both delicious and pretty. Flavours of citrus blossom, bitter almond, and fresh melon. Accents of flint and oyster shell. Pleasant, lightly textural palate. Beautifully done. (17.5/20) JANCIS ROBINSON

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!

A sweet spice and floral blend complements candied lime and crushed apple notes as the 2021 Bianco Manna opens in the glass. This coasts across the palate lifted and finessed with a stunning mix of zesty acidity and ripe citrus under an air of tropical inner florals. The 2021 leaves a salty flourish and the mouth watering for more as Granny Smith apples slowly fade. The Manna is a blend of 40% Riesling, 20% Chardonnay, 15% Kerner, 15% Gewürztraminer and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. ERIC GUIDO, Vinous

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!

Dewazakura spent 11 years developing their own original rice, called Dewa Sansan, and it is grown only in the Yamagata prefecture. This rice makes a very soft and deep flavoured style of sake. It shows characters that resemble wine and has hints of herbs, yeast, and mushrooms. The palate has good zingy acidity, with citrus/lemon tang, and a clean and fresh finish with wonderful mouthfeel.

Sake name Junmai Ginjo Dewa Sansan
Style Junmai Ginjo
Rice type

• Kojimai (Rice used for making Koji) Dewa Sansan
• Kakemai (Rice used for making Sake) Dewa Sansan
• Rice grown Yamagata
• Rice polishing ratio 50% (remaining)
• Alcohol 15.5%
• SMV (Sake Meter Value) (+4)
• Serving temperature Chilled or warm

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!

Umeshu is produced by infusing Ume fruit into Shochu. Green Tea flavour is added to achieve  refreshing character. The texture is smooth and is has well balanced sweetness and delicate  green tea tannin. Finishing is crisp and clean. It is refreshing to have chilled Umeshu straight or  over ice, or cold spring water. Or you can create any kind of beautiful Umeshu cocktail

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!

The Keber family settled at Localita’ Zegla 300+ years ago, when Collio (Italy) and Brda (Slovenia) belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, they have been instrumental in the push for a new DOC, one that would be a world first between two countries and unite Collio and Brda once more. In 2008 they took the radical step to produce just a single white wine, a blend of Friulano, Ribolla and Malvasia that they feel best expresses the uniqueness of their territory. The wine has become an Italian/Slovenian benchmark.

The vineyards are all terraced and the climate is moderated by two competing elements, warm breezes from the Adriatic and the chilly Bora from continental Europe. Farming is certified organic and Kristian uses some biodynamic preparations.

A blend of 70% Friulano with 15% each of Ribolla Gialla and Malvasia. Typically Friulano gives the body and structure, Ribolla for acidity and freshness and Malvasia for complex aromatics. The wine is co-fermented with natural yeasts (in concrete) and aged in concrete for 16 months. This extended ageing, over two winters, allows for a slow natural decantation of the sediment and the wine can be bottled unfiltered. Aromas of white stone fruits, apple, almond and yellow flowers. There's the classic textural push and pull on the palate that the Friulano grape, and wines from Collio, do so well, adding complexity and intrigue. The palate balances a sense of richness and body with minerality and an almost salty finish that really holds your interest. Great, and interesting, white wine.

 

A blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris and some Pinot Blanc, the 2021 Riquewihr was harvested along the Schoenenbourg Grand Cru, on the more exposed side of the grand cru Sporen, and from parcels towards Kientzheim. After some funky reduction has dissipated, luminous candied lemon notes appear. The palate, however, is fuller and seems buffered and airy, with very concentrated freshness, soft fruit and defining pithy bitterness that makes the mouth water. The finish is bone-dry and rapier-like, edged with ginger. (Bone-dry) ANNE KREBIEHL MW, Vinous

This wine comes from the parcels of Domaine Marcel Deiss located on the end of Riquewihr (places called Engelsreben and Rosenbourg) conducted biodynamically. The siliceous superficial framework of these soils resting on deep marls, gives a wine extremely salivating, precise, robust, thick, aristocratic and cold in primitive youth, but fleshy. Complete and very long aging. This is the complex message of a vibrant fruit from a deep cold earth.

If you have never had the wines of Deiss this is a great place to start. He has always been adamant that the great wines of Alsace are 100% about place and grape second, so much so that he famous for his field blend wines that combine several grapes and that which for Deiss represent one of the great expressions of the region.

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!

Black tea and Umeshu blended. Ume and tropical notes on the nose with almond character. Medium body Umeshu with a creamy texture, the palate shows clean sweetness and good quality black tea, tannin and clean acidity. The finish is clean. Chilled Umeshu straight, over ice,or cold spring water. Great for Umeshu cocktail.

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!

Kenbishi is very classic – keeping same Sake making methods which involve Yamahai method and wild yeast. King of Sake rice ‘Yamadanishiki’ 100% used. ‘Mizuho’ means ‘ear of rice’, but in this case, Kenbishi meant it is ‘Junmai’. Blends of 2 YO to 8 YO tank aged Sake. Distinctive golden colour. Medium to full body. It shows honey, malt and nuts on nose. High in Umami and acidity. Texture is smooth and mouth coating warmth. Rich and complex on the palate with a crisp long finish.

Produced by infusing ume fruit in shochu, this lassic Japanese beverage shows marzipan aromas and a rich palate with sweet and tangy complexities. GOURMET TRAVELLER

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!

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!

Aromas of peach, thyme and lilies. Medium-bodied with refreshing tannins. Bright acidity, but overall pleasant, mellow presence. Fresh stone fruit and jasmine on the palate. Well balanced with a soft finish. 63% roussanne, 20% grenache blanc, 14% picpoul blanc, 3% picardan. 95 points, JAMES SUCKLING

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!

There are only a select few, perfect locations, to grow great wine on this big blue orb of ours and those are between 30 and 50 degrees north and south latitudes. Those regions need to provide just the right temperature, humidity, heat and climate to grow high quality grapes. We are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to the northern reaches with the whole of Europe at our disposal, but travel further south and things are a little different.

While New Zealand and Tasmania provide us with plenty of choices (and we would be remiss not to include them) the southern reaches sitting on and just below the 40 degrees latitude offer a up a wholy unique drinking experience.

While grapes like riesling, cabernet and pinot noir are familiar to us, a number of the wines in this months pack aren't seen so regularly on your local wines list or on the shelves of your corner wine store. From Malbec's in Argentina to the infamous Pinotage and the more classic varietals like Chenin in South Africa this is an exploration of all that is good in these great southern lands of ours.

Where do we start with such an awesome selection of interesting wine? It's hard to decide we might just do a quick run down by country.

South America is relatively new to the wine scene but has come along in leap and bounds. WE start with a couple of classics with the Finca Los Moras Malbec and the Santa Ana Cabernet. These are text book varietal wines with plenty to love in their up-front fruit and modern styling. For something a little different we through in the Bouchon pais. For those who do not know, Pais is an old variety that is Chile's answer to pinot noir. With a little more bite and a wild flourish this a great introduction to this fascinating wine.

Closer to home in New Zealand we have few classic drops with the Palliser Estate Pencarrow pinot. A wine you would be hard pressed to find with the structure, concentration and complexity at the same price. Off to Hawkes Bay for some stonking Chardonnay from Bilancia fame and some of the world most underrated syrah from stars Te Mata. What a treat!

Just in our backyard, Tassie continues to pump out some of the best wine in the country and while we would never miss out on showcasing another great pinot there is some real winners with pinot gris and riesling on the rise. The Moores Hill gris is a freat example of textural and vibrant gris from the Apple Isle with the Riversdale riesling hot on its tale.

And for something a little different we have got the latest release Willie Smiths Cider. This is an absolute belter, and we couldn't help but included it once we were told it had been released. Perfect timing! We will take that one!

Last, and something we don't see much in Aus is a cracking selection of wines from South Africa. Long-term customers may recognise some of these wines and as far as we are concerned, they are some of the best modern day Cape wines to make it over. The Bare Bones cinsault is a zippy red full of energy while the Winery of Good Hope pinotage is a juicy and fun take on this classic red variety,

And what would a selection of wine from South Africa be without a chenin blanc. The Secateurs is clean and crunchy with a plush fruit profile that is cleaned up by chenin's zippy acidity.
All in al a pretty awesome and exciting collection of stellar wines from the great south!

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!