Calvados, Sherry, cider, Pinot...

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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 !!

Richly complex, this is not a simple sipping Pinot Gris. The aromatics are floral and fruit-centred,
with plenty of jasmine, ripe pear and toasted almond. The palate is surprisingly rich and complex, with lanolin, beeswax and sweet stone fruit flavours. Textured and rich with candied ginger, honeyed pear and apricot to finish. This is a lot of vinous complexity. CLIVE PURSHORSE, Decanter Magazine

The 2022 Pinot Gris is scented of poached pears, almonds, meringue and bread dough. The palate is broad and creamy with generous, ripe, spicy fruit tempered by bright acidity and a long, flavorful finish. ERIN BROOKS, The Wine Advocate

‘Aranzá’ is Rafa’s sub-vineyard name for a small portion he selects from Viña La Palma. La Palma itself is a small vineyard, 3 hectares of 60 year-old Palomino growing in Albariza tosca cerrada. The term ‘Aranzá’ is a short-hand for the local measure of land area, an Aranzáda – depending upon the colloquy involved (the measure is different in each town and possibly grower-to-grower!), it’s roughly a half hectare.

Pickled hay, buttery chalk and the cold steel smell of yesterday’s Tea Billy. Savoury, earthen, edged and filled with pickles and spice. Dandelion, a nice rim of diatom (blue oceanic fossil minerality), pickled cucumber, a sapid buzz in the cheeks and corners of the tongue. A round and savoury style, the cereal-inflected Palomino is mid-weight with an understated, lovely finish of bitters on the point of the tongue. Incredible volume and textural satisfaction at such low ABV.

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Alluring notes of honey and spiced pears mingle with ginger root. This is a wonderfully textured wine with spicy fruit and lilting aromatics; hazelnuts, ginger and pear blossom. Signs off with some pleasing quince-like phenolics on the finish making it a perfect food wine to cut through spicy dishes with attitude. GABRIELLE POY

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Before Eric Nuccio was Evesham Wood, he was Haden Fig. His journey into winemaking began in Washington D.C., where he developed a passion for Oregon Pinot Noir while working at a respected wine retailer there. After gaining experience in wine distribution and formal education in viticulture and oenology, Nuccio and his wife moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. There, he apprenticed under Russ Raney, the founder of Evesham Wood Winery going on to work with him each vintage while eventually starting Haden Fig in 2007.

For his pinot gris Eric aims for a classic Alsace styling. This is achieved through thought the use of barrel fermentation in older, large format French oak. Here he is not aiming to add oak flavours or aromas but seeks out the textual elements through micro-oxygenation from time in barrel and some light lees contact. This is a wonderfully textured wine with spicy fruit and lilting aromatics that packs in the flavour and drives with wonderful energy and freshness. In 2022 the grapes are sourced from the Mahonia property and the recently purchased Torres Bros Vineyard.

Sourced from Mahonia and– the recently purchased!–Torres Bros. Vineyard; it’s barrel fermented and aged in neutral French oak. It is akin to the pinot gris imported from Alsace — this is a spiced, textured, and aromatically-driven wine.

Very fresh and creamy with delicate acacia honey, ripe melon and honeysuckle aromas. Healthy acidity for this grape with very polished texture on the medium-bodied palate. The lightness and liveliness at the finish pulls you back for more. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Screw cap. STUART PIGOTT, JamesSuckling.com

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One of the large, historical houses of conventional sherry-making, Williams and Humbert nowadays offer a layer of distinct wines within the fluidity of its 'Sherry' styles. Under the young generation leadership of Paola Medina Sheldon, the Williams Coleccion is a series of astonishingly delicate and singular vintage sherries, or añadas: statically aged single-vintage wines, with terroir as important as bodega influences. Paola mainly takes fruit from the 'las Conchas' vineyard within Pago Añina (jerez), and some from old vines in Pago Carrascal (jerez). 

In every respect, Finolis parallels Willy Perez's remarkable statically-aged natural alcohol Fino Caberrubia (from the same Pago), except that it's a half degree of booze short of the regulations. Only 50% free run juice yield from pressing was used, fermenting naturally to 15%. The wine was then aged in old 600L Fino casks with 20% ullage to allow plenty of Flor. Later, at nearly 5 years of age, the wine was bottled en rama (unfiltered), however the DO refused to ratify it as a Fino as the alcoholic degree had diminished, and it's in the market as table wine of Cadiz, not Fino.

Upon demand, Gutierrez Colosía make occasional bottlings of super-textural Fino straight from the barrel, or 'en Rama'. Sacas of 'standard' Fino del Puerto, 3 years old, are bottled light and fresh at 15%. Drift wood, oyster shell and chamomile reveal instantly on the nose. There is a mild white pepper note and a floral spice. The palate is round and balanced, it persists and carries the weight and texture of barrel-condition Fino with ease. Toasted pistachios, cashews and roasted seeds add a nutty weight, while a touch of peach skin and pepper-citrus-astringent hold all in line. TSA

Think ripe pomelo and melon with a touch of yellow grapefruit, then let yourself drift into this very fresh and chalky expression of the pinot gris grape. Only medium-bodied, but with a compact structure. Intensely salty finish that has a lot of drive. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.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!

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

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This is the bar by which many Willamette Valley producers measure their own Pinot Gris. Made with certified organic grapes, the wine’s pale moonbeam colour casts its glow on aromas of orange blossom honey, lemon verbena and a trace of vanilla. Flavours of honeycomb, lemon sorbet and white grapefruit complement a lithesome texture backed by acidity that packs a pop.
MICHAEL ALBERTY, Decanter

The low-yielding but high-quality 2020 season gave fruit of a density and concentration, Jason Lett categorising it alongside the greats of 1988 and 1998. Hand-picked fruit was destemmed, pressed and fermented in stainless steel tank before resting for 11 months on lees before bottling.

This is the most renowned pago in Jerez, planted on pure albariza, a white soil high in calcareous microfossils. Equipo Navazos sources the 115 from a bodega that farms their vineyards entirely by hand and without chemical inputs.
My heart stuttered a bit when the glass was set in front of me: rather than the pale-lemon colour I've come to expect in fino, it was a soft apricot, and I worried that it was past its prime. It was not. It smelled fresh and characterful - Could a wine be more Spanish? It smells like the sea, rich, fatty Valencia almonds, orange zest kneaded into yeasty bread dough, a touch of Manzanilla olive brine and a caramelly tang like birch syrup. It's richer and more savoury than any fino I've encountered, with heightened viscosity and concentration. The finish goes on forever. SAMANTHA COLE-JOHNSON, jancisrobinson.com

The NV La Bota de Fino 115 is still 100% from Macharnudo Alto, and they are trying to make a slightly more fluid wine, not like a Fino Amontillado, which was the case with some bottlings coming from the selection of very old soleras. It's slightly different from the previous edition, number 91; this is slightly younger, between seven and eight years of age, but it keeps the same style, just a little more approachable. It's still an old Fino, with notes of esparto grass and volume in the palate. (95) LUIS GUITERREZ, The Wine Advocate

Bottled a few days ago. From the Machurnado vineyard. They have decreased the average age by a couple of years so it's seven or eight years on average and the wine is more refreshing and not so uncomfortably concentrated. Firmer and nuttier than I Think Manzanilla with real tang and bite. Hint of molten dry treacle. Real grip. Neat and convincing. Not yet open - needs a couple of months. JANCIS ROBINSON MW

Wheatie, course ground grains and a background hint of fresh toast with wildflower honey. That alone had me coming back. But the aromatics are multidimensional, they run through a wild, complex and beautifully constructed spectrum, from perfume to damp stone, hay to honey roasted nuts. Crazy nuance and head spinning detail. There is so much involved here, but it is by no means bombastic. These details are, at times, faint little suggestions that mingle amongst more obvious characters. It takes time in the glass and air to shake loose some of the more reticent attributes. But they are so inviting and alluring. It is worth just sitting on a glass for a while. I poured some aside to keep coming back to over a couple of days.
The subtle, though not shy, nose does not prepare you for the impact on your palate.
It hits with some force, there's a lot of flavour here and it begins on impact. From the moment it touches your mouth it is a crazy dance. Intense, unusually concentrated and powerful for the style. Loaded up with character and brimming with confidence. This is a Sherry of presence and stature, however it does not depart from the things that we all love in Fino. Salty. Oh, so salty. Fresh feeling, it pops with a sense of spring in the mouth but then leans in to autumnal notes as it slowly, so very slowly, fades away. A final twang of salinity and chalky texture on the incredibly long finish, reminds you exactly what you are drinking.
This is both thoroughly and utterly delicious as well as deeply convincing and totally spellbinding. I love it! ROSCOE

This great pinot gris has stunning concentration and an amazing interplay of chalky, smoky and ripe yellow fruits character. Only medium-bodied, but with so much mineral power. Everything pulling together drives this along at a racy clip. (96) STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

A remarkable pinot gris that radically breaks the mold. Although this has stunning roasted apricot and smoky aromas in the nose it is actually a very cool and restrained wine with enormous mineral tension. Some may find this too extreme, but for us it has an almost overwhelming beauty (96) STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

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Here is more nutty, dried malts, slightly stale toasted sour dough. Deeply impressive. Complex but the spectrum is more on the savoury side nearly meaty aspects mingle with a wild estuarine note that carries with it pangs of salinity and twinges of bitter lemon rind that puckers your mouth but sets the salivary glands quivering. The way is stains the palate with flavour and gains volume in the mouth you think it is higher in acidity than it is, when in actuality its kind of caressing and fulsome, just those little twangs and pinches I mentioned poke out and add a sense of tension as well as tactile nuance. In some ways it feels like great Chablis in that regard, just in the saline whacks that hit your mouth in unexpected moments.
The other wine deserves your attention this demands it. Unreal. This is a little more cerebral, a bit more contemplative, don't contemplate anything too serious though, maybe what you should eat with it. Either way it's attention grabbing.
Not really sure my ramblings do either wine justice but hey, they are both so damn good that I hope they will speak for themselves. ROSCOE

Hang on to your hat! Here’s a dense and dangerous wine for a grape most wine drinkers think can only give no-brainers. Very compact and structured with a dark personality that some may find shocking, but what makes it that way is the gypsum marl minerality that is its soul. Brain-rattling freshness at the super stony finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. (97) STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

The 2021 Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal is a monopole for Zind-Humbrecht. It is located between Brand and Heimbourg, utterly different from both, with calcareous marl and gypsum on south-facing terraces. In the past, this was dedicated to making sweeter wines with botrytis. The vines were planted in 1983. The nose has a flicker of reduction, followed by an aromatic notion of pear, freshly turned earth and orange peel. The palate has concentration and flow, a russet pear texture and a salty, cool, mouth-watering core. The saltiness is more intense than the fruit. The beautiful, bone-dry finish is very appetizing ANNE KREBIEHL MW, Vinous Media

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Welcome to the wild side of pinot gris, but don’t imagine for a second that this is a lush wine. In spite of all the power, this is super-cool and tense. If you have the patience, then let yourself sink into this incredibly dense and compact dry wine. Massive dark minerality in the extremely long finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold. 97 STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

Very smoky and chalky, this remarkable pinot gris has power and concentration, yet is emphatically dry on the medium- to full-bodied palate. Such a zesty freshness in the long, elegant finish, where there’s a touch of tobacco leaves. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.  STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

Smoky and delicately exotic with touches of bergamot and gunpowder, this is a super-elegant dry pinot gris that shows what this grape is capable of. Tremendous textural complexity in the very long, silky finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold.  95 STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.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!

A rich and vibrant pinot gris that manages to also be light, delicate and graceful. Very deep and cool finish that pulls you down into dark ocean waters where you encounter the mystery of this great wine (96) STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.com

Pinot gris has the reputation of being easygoing, but this dry pinot gris from Alsace has enormous energy and vitality. The staggering citrusy juiciness electrifies the super concentrated, medium-bodied palate. At this stage in the wine’s very long life, the finish is a wild ride thanks to the chalky intensity. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2026. 97 STUART PIGOTT, jamessuckling.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!

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 very intense PX with distinctive character and depth, showing Chinese herbs, tree bark, spices, licorice syrup, black olives, figs and black dates. Unctuous and viscous with espresso, dates, spices and bitter chocolate. Real, concentrated nectar! Drink now. (96) JAMES SUCKLING

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Super deep and complex, rich and saline, with a pure developed perfume. Mapled acorn-rich, lightly glyceric, deeply spiced, strong at the rim, releasing to an ethereal boof from a structural base. Fine glazed toffee nut, orange blossom, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, dried chestnut honey, toasted hazelnuts, delicate tangerine caramel, brandied citrus, sandalwood. The acidity itself is incredibly complex, carrying brine and rind, fine old wheat and praline in a gloriously patinated, running mouthfeel. TSA

*Due to the very nature of this collection, this sherry is limited. Arriving in Australia August 19, 2019

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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!

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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!

Williams Paola Medina Fino de Anada 2010 500ml
Based on old vines in Pagos Añina and Carrascal (jerez). Product of a cool, humid vintage.
The 2019 saca is the last bottling of this incredible Fino.

Hints of brassy development, really mature standing grass, traces of fine caramelised toffee as pure perfume, weightless and dry. Great depth without weight, very true to style, tangy as heck, whisper clear and still with a trace of whisky-wildness. SCOTT WASLEY


Williams Paola Medina Amontillado de Anada 2001 500ml
ABV 20%. Only 750 litres bottled. After delicate fermentation (17-22 degrees), the original Fino was aged biologically at 15.5% and later re-fortified to 18%. Later amontillados (after 2003) have not been re-fortified at all. This, Paola's first Amontillado, was aged biologically for 10 years, by which time it had naturally evolved into a developed Fino without flor, and was classified Amontillado, re-fortified and aged oxidatively.

Supremely elegant, mineral and vibrant with great complexity. Brilliant amber in colour, very complex aromas, dry in the mouth, mineral, rounded and persistent. SCOTT WASLEY

Williams Paola Medina Palo Cortado de Anada 2002 500ml
2.9 pH, 6.3 TA, 20% abv. As with the other wines, the fruit source is Pagos Añina and Carrascal. This wine is from a fruit selection of extremely fine young material which Paola hoped might develop naturally into a Palo Cortado. After 17 years' ageing the wine was finally classifed Palo Cortado in 2018, and this is its first bottling as such.

Extremely fine and silky wine, elegant and mineral. Golden mahogany to look at, complex tobacco-timber-mineral aromas, delicate and subtle in the mouth, the elusive fine-unctuous double nature of Palo Cortado in clear view. Balanced persistence in a really long finish. SCOTT WASLEY


Williams Paola Medina Oloroso de Anada 2001 500ml
Super deep and complex, rich and saline, with a pure developed perfume. Mapled acorn-rich, lightly glyceric, deeply spiced, strong at the rim, releasing to an ethereal boof from a structural base. Fine glazed toffee nut, orange blossom, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, dried chestnut honey, toasted hazelnuts, delicate tangerine caramel, brandied citrus, sandalwood. The acidity itself is incredibly complex, carrying brine and rind, fine old wheat and praline in a gloriously patinated, running mouthfeel. SCOTT WASLEY 


*Due to the very nature of this collection, this sherry is limited. Arriving in Australia August 19, 2019