I Don't Identify

Works brilliantly with all sorts of food - chicken and turkey, mushrooms and truffles, paella or risotto, grilled tuna, soups, meatballs with tomato sauce or anchovies on toast, and, of course, cheese, cheese, cheese.

This is best served chilled.

XECO is the brain-child of three 30-something 'fino fiends' who have long shared a love of fine sherry - and frustration that this love wasn't shared by their friends. The solution? Find better friends (kidding!) OR - find a way to bring a ‘Next Generation’ sherry to their friends and the world, finally giving this marvellous drink some long-overdue recognition. With 30 combined years of experience in the drinks industry, the trio set out to create a new brand of Sherry to put a contemporary edge on an age-old product, and in doing so help to dispel some of the myths around the category, while encouraging a new generation of discerning drinkers to give Sherry a second look.

Like its sister Fino, Monti is so versatile! Serve it straight up in a glass, with a slice of orange, or mix it with ginger beer, or Sprite! Cocktail options are endless. Have fun experimenting with this one.

Place: Jerez, Spain
Grape: Palomino
Style: Refreshing and yummy

Brunches, lunches and patio hangs

Coooooolll

Chad and Bree Stock, a husband-and-wife team, have merged their superpowers and unique backgrounds in wine to create Ltd. +, which emerged as a collaboration with farmers in the area, inspired to develop a diverse and sustainable wine landscape. The wines, often made from less common grape varieties adopting innovative techniques, are changing preconceived notions of Oregon wine. 

We crush hard on PIQUETTES – full stop. These are kinda wine, but kinda not, what used to be a ‘farm hand’s drink’ made from leftover grapes & water doing a funky ferment. The older we get, the more we want to drink without the silly side-effects of those pesky hangovers. With very low alcohol this baby is our any day, anytime wine friend, allowing us to keep up with the cool kids all the while sippin’ on something simply divine.

Place: Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon, United States
Grape: Grenache, Cabernet Franc
Style: Lovely light red-like
Ingredients: Grapes, water + a smidge of sulphur

Just a little pour of this on its own is all you need

Best served from the fridge

The story of Ottomani began with four friends who grew up together and turned a dream into reality. Not that far off from us girls at Crushed!

They graduated from the University of Florence with Oenology (that’s the science of wine) degrees and chose to separate for a while to get some exposure working in real wineries. With a few years of experience and some real savoir-faire in their back pockets, the boys came back together and purchased a farm of their own. In 2006, Ottomani was born with indigenous grape preservation and sustainability sowed into its mission statement.

They’re organic and biodynamic, they hand-harvest everything and don’t irrigate their vines. They’re working hard to preserve the biodiversity of the region by propagating traditional indigenous varieties like Ciliegiolo, Bonamico and Malvasi Nera (also known as Uva Rara – the rare grape). The wines are unfiltered & unfined.

It takes 3 years to make this late-harvested beauty. 3 YEARS! In teeny tiny 50-litre casks (a ‘normal’ barrel is 225 litres!

Place: Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Grape: Trebbiano, Malvasia
Style: Sticky & sweet
Ingredients: Grapes + SO2