Old Accessories

Gonzalez Byass is one of the greatest, historical names in Sherry (and Brandy), as well as the largest in Jerez, and the Tio Pepe brand and image one of the icons of Spain, and the best selling Fino in the world stored in an impressive solera of 30,000 botas. Gonzales-Byass was founded in Jerez in 1835 by 23-year-old entrepreneur Manuel Maria Gonzalez, who exported the first cask of Tio Pepe to London in 1844. Gonzalez was advised by an uncle of his, a man called Jose Angel de la Pena. Uncle Jose had a small bodega with his own solera of Fino, which had direct access to the street as he liked to come and go as he fancied. People called Jose are often nicknamed Pepe in Spain, so the solera of uncle Jose (tio means uncle), or uncle Pepe gave name to the famous Tio Pepe brand. The original bodega del Tio Pepe still exists, is in use today, and in fact holds some of the best botas of Tio Pepe Fino. Gonzalez took different partners, and the company changed names a number of times, like Manuel Maria Gonzalez & Cia or Gonzalez & Dubosc. In 1855, the year the people of Bordeaux were really busy making the classification of their chateaux, Gonzalez sold some company shares to his importers and distributors in the UK, Robert Blake Byass. The name of the company was definitely set to Gonzalez Byass & Co., which has been kept till the present day. Today the fifth generation of the Gonzalez family still own and manage the company. Through the years the company and its holdings have been greatly expanded, and the winery today is akin to a small town of 37 hectares, as it has incorporated some of the streets that connected the different bodegas, La Constancia, La Concha (a unique round bodega attributed to Gustav Eiffel), Los Apostoles, La Cuadrada, and the more recent Gran Bodega Tio Pepe, Las Copas or Marques de Bonanza. As a curiosity, if you visit their premises you?????ll be able to see the largest working weathervane on earth, in the shape of a bottle of Tio Pepe!

A blend of Espadin agave, hand-selected from hillsides in Oaxaca. Dos Hombre displays an appealing fragrance, rich taste and distinctive smoothness. Aromas and palate notes of apple, mango, wood, smoke and some salinity on the finish. 42%abv

Organic / Biodynamic

97 points Wine Advocate
The 2021 Ponce has a moderate 12.5% alcohol, lower than the 2022 that I also tasted next to it, which references a cooler year in which he decided to age the wine in 600-liter oak barrels, which allowed him to include smaller lots into the final blend. It feels very young and lively, a wine that is going to age nicely in bottle. It has an expressive nose combining floral, berry and herbal notes...
Drinking Window: 2024-2034

Organic / Biodynamic

94 points John Gilman
Domaine Huët’s 2023 Clos du Bourg Sec bottling is also excellent. The wine is deep, complex and beautifully focused on the nose, wafting from the glass in a mix of quince, apple, a touch of pink grapefruit, complex, chalky soil tones, lanolin, beeswax and a topnote of gently musky white flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and shows a bit more mid-palate weight than the Le Haut Lieu and Le Mont Sec bottlings in 2023, with sound acids, excellent balance and grip and fine lift on the long and complex finish. It will not be criminal to open a bottle or two of the Clos du Bourg Sec 2023 in its early days, but if one buys a case, make sure to tuck at least nine of the bottles away for the long haul.

93 points Wine Spectators
Alluring and aromatic, this seduces with honeysuckle, quince and orchard fruit wrapped in salty, leesy notes on the palate, with a hint of toast. Salty density builds toward the finish, with bitter mineral notes bringing balance along with the tangy, mouthwatering acidity. Hints of garlic scape and alpine herbs make for a fresh, clean finish. Built to last.

93 points Wine Advocate
The 2020 Marqu??s de Casa Concha Heritage was produced with 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot from the ungrafted part of El Mariscal Vineyard in Puente Alto in Maipo, the place where the Marqu??s de Casa Concha originated, so they wanted to go back to their roots and that's why they called the wine Heritage. It fermented in stainless steel with selected yeasts followed by malolactic in tank and 16 months in French oak barrels, 40% of them new. It's ripe at 14.6% alcohol and has good acidity and freshness. It's quite fruit-driven, with notes of herbs (tobacco leaves), a bit grapey, from grapes harvested quite early because it was a very warm year. The quality of the tannins is not the same as those of the 2021; there is a little more rusticity here. But the wine keeps the freshness to avoid any sweetness in the wine.

93 points Vinous
The 2020 Red Blend Heritage Marques de Casa Concha combines 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, aged for 16 months in 40% new barrels. Intense garnet red in color. The nose offers dark fruit such as blackberry and black currant and attractive hints of olive, bay leaf and ash. With the terse tannins typical of the region, it begins expansively before tightening up a little to deliver intense flavor followed by a long, fruity finish. A compelling wine.

The outstanding 2000 is the finest example I have yet tasted from this estate. The wine, a sleeper of the vintage, has a dense ruby/purple color and a gorgeous nose of creme de cassis intermixed with raspberries, wet stones, and flowers, and a hint of subtle oak. It is elegant yet powerful, medium to full-bodied, yet light on its feet. It is a beauty, with some moderate tannin to shed in the finish. - Robert Parker (4/03)

100% Single Vineyard Tempranillo; 21 months in barrel & 24 months in bottle

"Very deep colour; clean and bright. Intense cherry and purple glints. Very complex and elegant nose, red and black ripe fruits (cherry, mulberry) between complex tertiary aging aromas like liquorice, coffee, vanilla, roasted, leather and tobacco, with a characteristic mineral touch. Very elegant and velvety. With the same aromas founded in nose, complex. Ripe fruit, coffee, liquorice, leather, wood and roasted." Winemaker Notes

The nose has sandalwood, floral aromas, spice, green tea, and vanilla. On the palate, there's a lot of aromatic wood, cedar, cloves, tea, citrus zest, spice, and a touch of smoke. The spice, smoke, green tea, and wood linger through the finish.

Bright orange in color, "Green Orange" is a tequila liqueur made by blending Cenote's Blanco 100% blue agave tequila and macerated green orange peels. After extraction of oils from orange peels during triple distillation, they combine distillate with the Blanco and demineralised water. The result is vibrant liqueur with aromas of freshly sliced green oranges, cooked agave and slight wood notes.

Distiller Notes
2019 San Francisco World Spirits Completion Gold Medal Winner

Golden yellow. Clear and bright. Sweet, with toffee and popcorn aromas. Slightly nutty, with fresh green apples coming through. Clean. Green apples and grass, soft oak and a hint of sweet liquorice. Water brings linseed oil and almonds with a sweet and malty finish.

Embraced for its distinctive apple flavor and softness, this versatile spirit adds panache to fine cuisine and creative cocktails. A perfect complement for poultry or pork recipes, the spirit also enhances apple and pear desserts, Enjoy alone or with ginger ale or tonic on the rocks, this fine spirit is sure to add a delicious new twist to your classic cocktail.

Organic

Located in the Cotes des blancs, it is a micro domaine of 3 ha, certified organic, inaugural release in 2022. He was recommended by Vincent Couche and the quality of his champagnes is just terrific. They age in barrels and sandstone tanks making champagnes that are extremely pure and precise. All 100% chardonnay. AGED 12 MONTHS IN BARREL + AFTER BOTTLING 15 MONTHS ON LEES. UNFILTERED & UNFINED. 4 Grams Dosage

500 cases produced

93 points Wine Advocate
Popping out of the glass with succulent dark red cherries and fresh potpourri essence, the 2022 Pinot Noir bursts with notes of wild herbs and turned earth. Medium-bodied, the palate offers flavors of black raspberry with a firm-gripping tannic edge. It shows seductive florals with spicy flavors and ends with a food-friendly finish. Just under 20,000 bottles were filled after 10 months of barrel aging in 36% new French oak.

Yuu Baal Reposado is pale golden yellow, full bodied, and has a piquant aroma from its six months of aging in American White Oak barrels. It is smooth and 'suave' with notes of caramel. 40%abv

Some very stony and flinty aromas with graphite. Red and dark plums, too. Smells fresh and very complex already. The palate has great density and a fine, compressed tannin texture, as well as a very focused finish. Spiced black cherries and blackberries, cassis and dark chocolate to close. Short carbonic maceration and juice is racked off during the carbonic process. A captivatingly powerful but focused Morgon.

Utah?€?s first distillery since the 1870's, High West Distiller is located in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains in Old Town Park City, Utah. Rich and earthy on the palate with balanced flavors of candy corn, honey and sweet corn bread. Finishes with vanilla with a hint of caramel apple. 46%abv

IWSC 2021 Gold Award Winner
Distilled in India with foraged Himalayan Juniper and locally sourced botanicals, Hapusa is a gin that is uniquely Indian. In Sanskrit, Juniper is called "Hapusa", and it is this which gives their Gin not only its name but its untamed aroma and flavour. Found near the snow line in the Himalayas, this elusive Juniper Berry provides a beautiful structure around which the rest of their botanicals are purposefully arranged. These botanicals come from all across the country to bring together its varied flavours, cuisines and cultures to make this a real journey in a glass. From the Pine forests in the Himalayas, your taste buds venture along the banks of the Hooghly River, through the monsoon forests of Tamil Nadu and finally end their journey in the lush spice farms of Goa. - The Gin Guild

43%abv

Distiller Notes
Warm toasted burnt sugar notes with spice, sweet, smoky. During the 1970s and 1980s, Michter’s Original Sour Mash Whiskey was the distillery’s single most popular product. While the “Sour Mash” moniker originated from the whiskey production process of the same name – whereby some previously fermented mash is used as the starter for the new mash to be fermented, much like making sourdough bread – Michter’s Original Sour Mash earned distinction for its unique taste. With its unique grain selection, it cannot be categorized as a rye or a bourbon.

If you can imagine the caramel, vanilla and fruity notes of Maker's Mark turned all the way up, you'd have a pretty good idea of what Maker's Mark Cask Strength is like. One of the better regarded cask strength Bourbons. 55.8%abv.

100% agave tequila aged for 12 months in American oak barrels has a sensory profile that is unique in its class. Aromas: Sweet notes of coffee and nuts. Finish: Silky with an intense wood flavor and smoky tones. 40%abv

Aged for 7 months. Soft, slightly oaky with hints of caramel and cocoa. It has a silky texture with a medium to long smooth finish. Casamigos was co-founded by actor George Clooney.

#14 Whisky Advocate Top 20 Whiskies of 2021

2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition Gold Medal Winner

Named for the finery one would wear for special occasions back in the day, the six-year-aged Bib & Tucker bourbon has a nose of antiques, new saddle leather, chamomile-soaked butterscotch drops and warm cinnamon-kissed cedar. If that doesn’t bring up images of Americana, the flavor profile mirrors the nose, urging on that sense of peace, harmony balance: all the good things you taste and should feel while sipping a great bourbon.

The top Barbera from the leading producer in the Colli Tortonesi (southeast Piemonte), and one of a handful of truly age-worthy Barberas. This wine, along with Sentieri and Fuso, demonstrates that Walter Massa is an able and versatile “Barberista”, in addition to having the magic touch with Timorasso.

Native yeasts. Aging in used barriques for about two years and at least an additional year in bottle. No filtration. All the classic Barbera cherry and raspberry fruit, with the grape’s high acidity honed into a tightly-knit complexity. One of the few Barbaras that age and become more complex.

Walter Massa is the real deal: a contadino (farmer) with deep family roots in his native Colli Tortonesi who’s usually plowing his vineyards or buzzing around his cellar when someone arrives for a visit. He’ll then stop to spend hours showing around, pouring wines for, and talking with the continual waves of journalists, sommeliers, importers, buyers, and just plain fans who make their way to his village of Monleale in the southeast corner of Piemonte. Massa is universally known as the Maestro of Timorasso — he rescued it from obscurity and near-extinction and now leads a mini-renaissance of the variety in the Colli Tortonesi. But he also produces amazing and distinctive reds from the local varieties Barbera, Croatina, Freisa, and Nebbiolo.

Organic

Organic / Biodynamic

94 points Wine Spectator
Firmly structured and elegant, this is a demi-sec but supremely food-friendly and balanced, with subtle sweetness deftly offset by savory power and mineral notes. Plush and generous, with flavors of honeycomb, ripe apple and heather that are all tightly hemmed in with plum skin acidity and apple seed tannins. Green almond bitterness and hints of fleur de sel mark the complex finish. Drink now through 2037. 490 cases made.