Can I buy wines from Virtuous Vine as a retail customer?
Yes! But we currently have a wholesale only liquor license. So we can take your order/request and pass it on to our retail partners who will fulfil your order. Our partners can deliver throughout Australia. Send us your order/request.
Can I buy wines from Virtuous Vine wholesale?
Yes! This is our main business, we love supplying Australia’s great restaurants, bars, hotels and specialist retailers with top class natural wines from France. Please complete our very short client information form (download here) and email it to us at charlie@virtuousvine.com.au. We will send you a copy of our wholesale catalogue in return.
How do I open a wholesale account with Virtuous Vine?
Please complete our very short client information form (download here) and email it to us at charlie@virtuousvine.com.au.
How does delivery work?
We can deliver to pretty much anywhere in Australia. Here are the charges and usual turnaround times: • Sydney and Melbourne Metro – free (1-2 business days) • ACT, Brisbane, Adelaide, Geelong - $6 per dozen or part thereof (2-3 business days) • NSW & Victoria Regional - $18 per dozen or part thereof (2-3 business days) • Perth Metro - $18 per dozen or part thereof (3-4 business days) • Hobart Metro - $30 per dozen or part thereof (4-5 business days) • Other - contact us for a quote
How does Virtuous Vine care for the wines during transport from France?
Our wines are alive! The journey from France to Australia can take up to 2 months, sometimes more, on boats. So we ensure the wines are always kept in temperature controlled environments (13-15°C). We then rest them in our temperature controlled cellar for as long as they need in order to be delicious drinks when you buy them.
What is Natural Wine?
Undefined… Yet everyone has their own sense of what constitutes natural wine. For Virtuous Vine, the important elements are: • Grapes from super-respectful farming (non-industrialised organic, or biodynamic, or other similar labour intensive small scale methods). • Wines made with no oenological additions (of which there are so many you may be surprised), except a bit of sulphur. • Wines made with no heavy manipulations designed to control or reduce the life in the wine, including radical temperature control and heavy filtration. • Economic and commercial structures which benefit, above all else, communities, families and the people who work to make these wines exist.
What does “organic” mean?
There are different definitions from different certifying bodies and different countries. According to Australian Standard (AS6000-2009), the basic principles are to achieve optimum quantities of products and food of high quality without the use of artificial fertilisers or synthetic chemicals. Organic farming requires the nurturing and maintaining of land for future generations.
What does “biodynamic” mean?
In this video, some brilliant vignerons give their point of view.
What is AB?
A European certifying body for organic labelling.
What is Biodyvin?
A certifying body for “Biodynamic” wine labelling.
What is Demeter?
A certifying body for “Biodynamic” products of various kinds.
What is “Renaissance des Appellations”?
A group of vignerons across the planet united by a quest to make and promote very clean and high quality natural wines, true to the place where they were grown, resonating energy and life. http://return-to-terroir.com
What is AVN?
A group of vignerons committed to farming naturally and making wines with zero oenological entrants, except a tiny dose of sulphur. http://www.lesvinsnaturels.org
What are S.A.I.N.S wines?
A group of vignerons committed to farming naturally and making wines with zero oenological entrants, nor sulphites. “Sans Aucun Intrant Ni Sulfite”. http://vins-sains.org
What is “Carbonic Maceration”?
A winemaking technique designed to create juice with bright and pungent fruit flavours, sometimes a bit unbelievably bon-bon-ish. The technique basically allows a winemaker to extract loads and loads of fruity flavours from the grapes, without extracting much tannin. Perfect for glugging chilled on a sunny day! Read more here
What is “Orange Wine”?
Orange wine / skin contact white / maceration white. These are all terms to describe the same thing: wine made from white wine grapes where the wine spends an unusually long time infusing on the grape skins. These contain lots of aromatic compounds and tannins, which are thus infused into the wine, and impart a dark sometimes orangey colour. Red wine is classically made in this style. Thus the easy analogy is that Orange wine is white grapes made like a red wine. Read more here