This is a farmhouse-style “scrumpy” fermented with Montmorency cherry juice and made with wild and brett yeast, and left unfiltered and unpasteurized. A crazy concoction that tests your senses with a funky nose of fresh cherries, cranberries with a brett note to go with pithy apple and a touch of citrus. It starts off-dry on the palate with all those wonderful red fruits but finishes dry with a citrus and tart apple edge to it.
Alvaro Palacios is one of Spain’s great winemakers whose range of wines can get very pricey. But at the introductory level, he makes this bargain wine from Rioja. Deep ruby-plum in colour, it has an earthy, cedary nose of sour cherries. Medium- to full-bodied, it’s dry and fruity and easy-drinking. The wine always contains around 8% of wine from the previous harvest that stays in barriques for 1 year.
A decent starter cider at a good price from Andrew Peller made from Nova Scotia apples with a nose of fresh apples and lightly spritzed. It fills the mouth with McIntosh apple flavours in an almost-still style after the bubbles quickly disappear on the palate. There is sweetness here along with apple goodness but could use a little more zippy acidity.
Deep purple-ruby in colour with a nose of leather and black plums perfumed with oak spice; full-bodied, dry, peppery plum flavour, well balanced and firmly structured.
Attractive varietal Cabernet nose reveals blackcurrant, blackberry, vanilla, clove and a whiff of green herb. Fresh blackberry and blackcurrant, wrapped in silky tannins in the mouth, with medium weight and good overall balance, culminating in dark fruit and a light splash of dark chocolate on the long finish.
Made from old-vine Mission grapes brought by the Spanish, between 75 and 150 years old, including Muscat from Maule plus Torontel, Cristalina and others from Maule and Itata. Unquestionably one of the most unique Chilean whites, with leesy notes up front plus some chalky notes. Distinctive tannins, creamy textured, juicy and layered.
I’ll admit to having a soft spot for the Martell range of cognacs. Founded in 1715, Martell is the oldest of the major cognac houses, but as with the rest of them, is trying to position its spirit in a more modern light, encouraging the use of cognac in mixed drinks. Martell’s latest expression — the VS Single Distillery — is, as the name implies, sourced from a single distilling source. Dark plum, dried apricot, vanilla, citrus, caramel, mild spice, and a whiff of leather. Rich and smooth in the mouth, with up front sweet plum and baking spice flavours trailing off to suggestions of vanilla and toffee. Crafted as a cocktail base, it’s quite enjoyable neat.