Calvados, Tokaji, Aperitif, Ci...

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!

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!

László Mészáros makes this late-harvest wine from mainly botrytised Furmint grapes (along with small amounts of Zéta and Hárslevelu), which have shrivelled to around half of their original volume. Termed Késói Szüretelésú in Hungarian, there is no berry-by-berry selection here as there is for Aszú wines. Instead, selected botrytised bunches and grape clusters were harvested and macerated briefly before being pressed. The wine was racked into used French oak (including barrels from Disznóko's sister property, Château Suduiraut in Sauternes), where it matured for six months.

The short aging has kept Furmint's pungent and fruity aromas and flavours intact and guarded its energy and freshness. The palate has a fine balance of candied fruit, honeycomb sweetness and acacia. This wine has residual sugar of around 130 g/L, which is well-balanced by punchy acidity and gentle grip, giving a vibrant and modern expression of Tokaji.

The balance and freshness mean you don't necessarily have to serve this with dessert. In fact, in Hungary, this kind of wine is often consumed as an aperitif or with goat’s cheese or pâté on toast.

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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

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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!

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!

Throughout its history, the house of Cocchi has periodically produced alternative varieties of its Americano aperitif wine.  Here the wine base is a blend of two aromatic varietals such as Brachetto and Malvasia famous for imparting notes of wild rose and summer berries. These are blended with herbs, fruit and spices, most notably gentian, cinchona and citrus like for the Bianco classic version, but with an extra addition of Ginger and rose petals. Enjoy with soda or tonic and a zest of grapefruit. A Royale sumptuous edition can be made topping it with Sparkling Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG.

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Cocchi Americano means much more to Asti than a simple wine made with the infusion of herbs and spices. An aperitif par excellence. Cocchi's is widely regarded as the original Aperitivo Americano, and has been made continuously since 1891 using only natural ingredients. To aromatise the white wine a secret blend of herbs and spices, to name a few, gentian,  cinchona and bitter orange peels, are added to the wine base which is then steeped over a period of time.

In recent years Cocchi Americano has become a cult product in the circle of best sommelier and bartenders of the world. The complexity of this product is the first thing that surprises you. On the nose you initially detect notes of orange zest, orange flower and elderflower before more mature aromas of baked apple and pear drops emerge. Your palate will immediately appreciate the bitter/sweet balance as more bitter notes mingle with honey and citrus flavors, mainly orange and lemon zest. More wine-like characteristics become evident as the flavors develop into a long, vibrant finish, with the bitter and sweet notes remaining fresh until the end.
Serve chilled with ice, a twist of orange peel and a splash of soda.

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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

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!

Golden in colour, with pronounced tropical fruits, mango, pineapple, pollen and acacia honey on the nose. Great depth and concentration on a classy palate of apricot, marmalade, pineapple and orange zest, spiced up by white pepper on the tip of the tongue. The passionate, tropical flavours are backed by great acidity with dried fruit notes lingering on forever… SYLIVA WU, decanter.com

Attractive aromas of dried apricots and dried mangoes with hints of caramel, fresh honey, exotic spice and dried orange. It's dense and creamy with vivid acidity coming through. Rich but not overly sweet, with hints of oolong tea and orange blossom at the end. Delicious. JAMES SUCKLING

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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!

This golden-colored Tokaji has aromas of raw honey, apricot blossom, pear and baked apple tart. Silky smooth upon entry, it offers flavors of baked apples, wildflower honey, canned pears and apricot. The acidity is nicely balanced so as not to be too cloyingly sweet. (97) JEFF JENSEN, wineenthusiast.com

The purity of this wine is remarkable. Like a clarinet, holding a note through the sunrise. Long, creamy but crystal-cut with the most remarkable intensity of apricot craquelure. Quite stunning. TAMLYN CURRIN, jancisrobinson.com

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