New from Viña Echeverria!

Viña Echeverria
Chile

We are Viña Echeverria, a family winery in Chile.  Maybe you´ve heard of us, maybe not.   Since 1992, when our dad went to the London Wine Trade fair with a suitcase full of his homemade wine, we've been making and exporting wine pretty much everywhere in the world.  The thing is, a few years ago we started making natural wine, and apparently we´re quite good at it.  At least, that's what our customers tell us.​

Our winery is in Chile´s Valle de Curico, (on a latitude with South Africa, or New Zealand to give you an idea),  in a broad valley between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It's like this corridor of extremely lush agricultural land with very diverse and fertile soil. The mountain and ocean breezes control temperature and regulate the sun during the long, hot summers, helping the vines mature slowly and evolve flavours. Not only that, but we have very few vineyards pests, which means a near perfect environment for organic agriculture. From a grapes point of view, it doesn't get much better.

2023
Viña Echeverria
¡No es Pituko!
Chardonnay

13% alcohol. Slightly cloudy. Lovely bright, spicy citrus fruit aromatics here: so exotic but also nicely constrained. The palate is lively, textured and expressive with orange peel, mandarin and lime, showing focus, a lively spicy finish, and also some richer baked apple hints on the mid-palate. Juicy, vibrant and delicious.

2022
Viña Echeverria
¡No es Pituko!
Cabernet Sauvignon

13.5% alcohol. Deeply coloured, this has a floral, vivid, primary nose of brambly fruit with a nice touch of green adding freshness. The palate is vivid and grippy with juicy berry fruits and some firm crunchy tannins. Bright and immediate; refreshing and drinkable; a wine for the table with its good acidity and tannins. I love it for its immediacy. It’s not trying to be fine wine, but it captures the joy of harvest and simple winemaking without any trickery or make-up.

New from Domaine de Cristia!

Domaine de Cristia
Rhône Valley, France

Domaine de Cristia was established in 1942, with only two hectares of vines; at that time, all grapes were sold to négociants. When Baptiste Grangeon inherited the vineyards from his father in 1999, he was the first to bottle as Domaine de Cristia. Today, Baptiste manages the winery with his sister, Dominique, and they have gradually added vineyards over the years, to a total of 20 hectares of vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Ninety percent of their holdings are in the lieu-dit Cristia, with the remaining ten percent spread over three different areas. These parcels are comprised of varying soil-types, including sand, clay, limestone, and galets, and benefit from a cool, fresh north-easterly exposition which allows the grapes and wines to develop supple, elegant tannins. Their Syrah and Mourvèdre vines average 55 years old and the oldest Grenache is over 100 years old.

The domaine follows organic agriculture for all work in the vineyards and has been certified from the 2008 vintage. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides are used to treat the soils or the vines. Ploughing and weeding are practiced according to the blocks and the yields desired. Vines are treated with copper sulphate and sulphur occasionally blended with a nettle infusion/tea (four to five times a year). Only organic fertilizer (i.e., sheep manure) is used.

2022
Domaine de Cristia 
Grenache
IGP Méditerrannée
100% Grenache

This everyday bottling from Cristia is delicious and well made. Delight in its cheerful and exuberant juicy, ripe, red cherry fruit with a floral violet lift and balancing acidity. It possesses Grenache’s signature elevated alcohol and polished, satiny tannins on a light to medium body. It is organically grown. Dive into this with lamb chops with rosemary, a hearty beef stew, and coq au vin.

2022
Cristia Collection
Crozes-Hermitage
100% Syrah

This wine is made from 30-year-old Syrah vines from the famous northern Rhone appellation. It is medium to full bodied with flavours of berries, mostly cherries, and a hint of spice and tapenade. It is juicy and elegant, with round and fine tannins.

2020
Domaine de Cristia
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
 Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre

Deep red robe, pulling on purple. Aromas of wild strawberry-raspberry on the nose, with a spicy and toasted touch. Lots of gluttony. Fresh attack on the fruit, spicy notes that line the mouth and bring a sensual and chocolate finish.

New from The Real McCoy!

The Real McCoy
St. Philip, Barbados

William McCoy was known as one of the original rum runners, who smuggled rum into the U.S. during Prohibition. He created a reputation for not adulterating his spirits to boost his profits, like many other bootleggers. The term "the real McCoy" was coined as a mark of authenticity. All Real McCoy rums are sourced from the acclaimed Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. Foursquare was also said to have supplied William McCoy with his rum spirit.

100+ awards worldwide, these rums are small batch artisan crafted by The Real McCoy’s 4th generation master distiller using only the finest molasses and pure spring water. The rum is batch distilled in a rare combination of column and artisan pot stills, then authentically aged in heavy char American oak ex-bourbon barrels.

The Real McCoy
12 Year Aged Rum
"Prohibition Tradition"
50% abv

Bottled for the 100th anniversary of Prohibition, the limited-edition Prohibition Tradition rum is an expression that pays tribute to William McCoy's bootlegging run at the start of Prohibition. It's a single blend of 12-year-old rums that were aged in American ex-bourbon and virgin white oak casks. Mature, elegant, and complex, this release is limited to a scant 6,000 bottles.

The Real McCoy
14 Year Aged Rum
46% abv

The Real McCoy 14 Year Aged Limited Edition Rum is copper pot and column distilled, with an incredibly complex flavor profile that makes this rum perfect straight or on the rocks. This limited edition opens with the guns a-blazing: it's spicy and brisk, loaded with cinnamon and clove. The drying midpalate shifts to oak and walnut, then fades away on gentle, dreamy layers of brown sugar, caramel, orange peel and a hint of dried apricot.