Catalog

Dirk Van der Niepoort, a talented Port producer, is an unusual character: quirky, visionary and intuitive. Faithful to Portuguese know-how and grape varieties, he has created an abundance of vintages (more than 50!) highlighting here a terroir, there a grape variety or unconventional vinification. This year, in collaboration with his wife (who is passionate about Japanese tea), he is offering a rather special gift set:

- 1 bottle of his classic Tawny Port, aged for 7 years in small oak barrels,
- 1 box of Pipa Cha (75g), an organic Oolong tea matured in the barrels used to age the Port.

Owned by the Tarbe family for a century, the Hourtica estate produces one of the most honest and authentic armagnacs where each vintage has its own personality. With 18 hectares in the heart of the best Armagnac terroir (the tawny sands of Labastide in Bas-Armagnac), this estate blends the 3 traditional grape varieties: 40% baco for roundness and smoothness, 30% ugni blanc for its finesse and floral aromas, 30% colombard for its fruity and spicy aromas

All its armagnacs are aged in barrels and bottled only as they are sold. Non rectified (no distilled water added), they reach 46° after 25 years and 41° after 50 years of age. The 1995 vintage was awarded a gold medal at the Concours Général de Paris.

Owned by the Tarbe family for a century, the Hourtica estate produces one of the most honest and authentic armagnacs where each vintage has its own personality. With 18 hectares in the heart of the best Armagnac terroir (the tawny sands of Labastide in Bas-Armagnac), this estate blends the 3 traditional grape varieties: 40% baco for roundness and smoothness, 30% ugni blanc for its finesse and floral aromas, 30% colombard for its fruity and spicy aromas

All its armagnacs are aged in barrels and bottled only as they are sold. Non rectified (no distilled water added), they reach 46° after 25 years and 41° after 50 years of age. The 1995 vintage was awarded a gold medal at the Concours Général de Paris.

Known for its grandissimes Meursault, Domaine Roulot has always (since 1866) had a small production of eaux-de-vie (Marc and Fine de Bourgogne) distilled on site with the family still. Jean-Marc Roulot has gradually expanded this production with fruit spirits: pear, raspberry, apricot and lemon.

Among all these sweets, the one that caught our attention was his formidable apricot liqueur, in which Jean-Marc Roulot has succeeded better than anyone else in capturing all the flavor, roundness and intensity of the ripe apricot just picked from the tree.

The ingredients of his miracle recipe: perfectly ripe organic apricots from a winegrower friend in the Rhône Valley (Laurent Combier), simply infused immediately after picking and for several months in a neutral alcohol, then dosed with alcohol (25°) and moderately sweetened (160g/l instead of 200g/l to 250g/l) to obtain this highly addictive liqueur!

Vayots Dzor may not be Armenia's largest wine-growing region, but it is undoubtedly its most prestigious, with a history dating back to the very origins of viticulture: the first known wine-making cellar can be found here, dating back to the 4th millennium BC. This high-altitude vineyard (1400m to 1650m), isolated from the rest of the world by its steep slopes, was spared phylloxera and is still entirely planted with ungrafted autochthonous grape varieties.

Karasi follows in the tradition of these ancient wines: 100% aréni noir (one of the oldest known grape varieties), organic viticulture, indigenous yeast fermentation, ageing in traditional amphorae (Karas)... A full-bodied, fleshy wine with aromas of blackcurrant, graphite and pepper.