Champagne, central Otago, Pino...
Champagne
The chalky soils of Champagne combined with its frigid growing environment create wines that are electric and salivating. But it’s the creation of bubbles that makes these wines stand out.
The bubbles are formed during a secondary fermentation in bottle, known as Méthode Traditionelle. The longer they age, the more nougat and brioche flavours develop and the finer the bead (bubble) becomes.
In terms of who invented Champagne, the English make a strong case as they worked out the formula for purposely making the fizz happen and their stronger coal-fired glass bottles - resulting from the Industrial Revolution - could hold the pressure. Whereas the French were still bottling in wood-fired glass which wasn’t strong enough and they hadn’t cracked the technique of creating bubbles on purpose.
Grapes
White: Chardonnay
Red: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
Styles
Nowhere in the world can emulate the fineness and electric detail of these wines. Non-vintage Champagnes should be enjoyed earlier in their lives, while vintage wines have more structure and can age beautifully. House styles differ too. Blanc des Blancs (100% Chardonnay) offer a more elegant and fragile expression while Blanc des Noirs (100% Pinot and or Meunier) are darker fruited with more obvious structure and power.
Favourite Producers
Pierre Peters, Louis Roederer, Vilmart, Andre Clouet, Taittinger, Larmandier, Egly-Ouriet, Jacques Selosse
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McArthur Ridge Brassknocker Pinot Noir 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$34.00 As low as $30.60 -
Two Paddocks Picnic Pinot Noir 2023The colour has very good depth and hue, the bouquet is fresh and bright with red cherry, meaty charcuterie and fragrant dried herb overtones, the palate medium tomlight weight with a drying feel thanks to abundant tannin and lively acidity. This has more structure than usually seen in an entry-level pinot noir. Good value. Drinking 2024 - 2031 HUON HOOKE, Real Review
2023Pinot noirNew Zealand373$43.00 As low as $38.70 -
Shaky Bridge Pioneer Pinot Noir 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021Pinot noirNew Zealand373$46.00 As low as $41.40 -
Nanny Goat Pinot Noir 2023More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2023Pinot noirNew Zealand373$51.00 As low as $45.90 -
Prophets Rock Rocky Point Pinot Noir 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$55.00 As low as $49.50 -
Charteris Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022Charteris a trans-Tasman story of exploration, love and connection. Its protagonist is PJ Charteris, an eternal dreamer whose heart burns with a contradiction: fondness for home and desire to explore. Wine, a lens through which to view time and place, is the perfect medium to satisfy those yearnings and to share the fruits of experience with others. In cahoots with his wife Chrissi whe he met while headwinmaker at Brokenwood PJ brings a veritable wealth of experience and know-how crafting some of the best and most drinkable pinot noir out of Otago.
Fresh cut Doris plum and ripe late season Black Douglas cherry full the aroma with layers of anise and subtle brown spice rack. Spicy whole bunch lift provides a layer of wild thyme like complexity to the nose. The palate entry is all cherry with a hint of Pomegranate and licorice across silky yet finely textured tannins. The cherry fruit drive sits over integrated oak which gives a supporting background structure. Long plush and generous with a good 7 year future in the cellar. - PJ Charteris2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$56.00 As low as $50.40 -
Blank Canvas Una Volta Pinot Noir 2018More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2018Pinot noirNew Zealand373$71.00 As low as $63.90 -
Burn Cottage Moonlight Race Pinot Noir 2022The 2022 Moonlight Race Pinot Noir is supple and spicy, with pink peppercorn, cherry blossom, red apple skins, a hint of blond tobacco and white pepper. The wine is light in the glass (but vibrant) and the tannins suit it—they are totally fresh and fine—finely milled and like poudre. Superb, silky, totally satisfying and enlivening. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. ERIN LARKIN, Wine Advocate2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$77.00 As low as $69.30 -
Tarras The Canyon Pinot Noir 2019GOLD MEDAL, 95/100 (International Wine Challenge, London)
The generous, savoury, well-structured 2019 vintage (5*) was estate-grown at Bendigo and matured in French oak casks (33 per cent new). Deep ruby, it is full-bodied and supple, with concentrated, complex flavours, showing excellent ripeness and harmony, and a long finish. Drink now or cellar. This wine is a Classic. 5 Stars - Classic - MICHAEL COOPER'S BUYERS GUIDE
This is powerfully graceful with stunning complexity; the enticing bouquet shows dark cherry, tapenade, smoked game, truffle and cedary oak characters. The concentrated palate delivers terrific fruit richness with fleshy texture and beautifully melded tannins, finishing sumptuous and structured. Multi-layered and hugely appealing. At its best: now to 2034. $80.00. Aug 2022. (97) SAM KIM, Wine OrbitA single vineyard wine made exclusively from The Canyon Vineyard at Bendigo and labelled as The Canyon only in vintages when it is exceptional. Beautiful floral aromas with elegant berry fruits, spice and dried herbs. The palate is elegantly opulent with ripe fruits, great acidity, ample tannins and excellent length. Remarkably ageworthy. When opened in its youth, The Canyon Pinot Noir may take a little time in the glass to unveil the full depth of flavours and complexity.
2019Pinot noirNew Zealand373$80.00 As low as $72.00 -
Prophets Rock Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022Beautiful and fruity with ripe strawberries, some dark cherries it's a fantastic pinot with dried strawberries, orange peel, terra-cotta, and dried leaves. It’s full and very layered with creamy and fine tannins that go on for minutes. Plenty of depth and very long with tension and a beautifully creamy, velvety finish. (97) JAMES SUCKLING
The 2022 Home Vineyard Pinot Noir is possessed of a most exciting display of red fruits and ductile tannin in concert. The tannins have a much closer, more densely packed feeling than the unfurling/spooling Olearia. There’s pomegranate, red and black cherry, licorice, star anise and even a hint of cumin seed. It's a wonderful wine that I know from experience benefits from a decant, which allows the fruit to stretch its legs, so to speak. Supple, throaty and full but not big. Still composure. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under ERIN LARKIN, Wine Advocate
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$95.00 As low as $85.50 -
High Garden Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2023Pinot noirNew Zealand373$95.00 As low as $85.50 -
Prophets Rock Olearia Pinot Noir 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021Pinot noirNew Zealand373$95.00 As low as $85.50 -
Nanny Goat Super Nanny Pinot Noir 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$99.00 As low as $89.10 -
Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NVThe NV Brut Blanc de Noirs Récolte Noire is a touch more elegant than the Récolte Brute, with layers of perfumed Pinot fruit that emerge gracefully from its medium-bodied fame. This delicious Champagne possesses lovely balance in an understated style. ANTONIO GALLONINVPinot noirFrance376$100.00 As low as $90.00 -
Valli Bendigo Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022A very structured pinot with blue fruit, flowers and slate with hints of graphite on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied but tight and hemmed in. Very precise and focused for a really big pinot, but comes off agile and energetic. This will age well. Beautiful follow up to the 2021. Drink or hold. Screw cap. (96) JAMES SUCKLING
Ripe, concentrated wine with cassis, blackberry, violet, dark chocolate and spicy oak underpinned with vibrant acidity. It's a wine with heft, obvious power and the ability to age gracefully. (96) BOB CAMPBELL, The Real Review2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Valli Bannockburn Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022The pure fruit really pops out, with fresh sliced strawberries and citrus. It’s medium-bodied with bright acidity and linear tannins. It’s really about the tension and crisp citrus nature to this. Drink now. Screw cap. JAMES SUCKLING
Wonderfully complex and new, there’s no mistaking the layers in the bouquet with aromas of place from minerality to ripe red berry fruits of boysenberry and plum then dark cherry and some raspberry suggestions. The scents of baking spices and smoke from barrel are both sweet and lifted as well as complex. A dry and equally complex wine touches the palate with textures and flavours that reflect the bouquet all at once teasing with polished tannins and medium+ acidity then red fruits and spice. Well made with a lengthy finish. Best drinking from 2025 through 2034. CAM DOUGLAS MW2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Two Paddocks The Last Chance Pinot Noir 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021Pinot noirNew Zealand373$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Valli Gibbston Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022The red cherries, plums and mushrooms come through clearly on the nose. Medium-bodied with creamy tannins that are nicely chewy and juicy at the end. There’s softness with tension here. Drink or hold. Screw cap. (94) JAMES SUCKLING
Taut, elegant pinot noir with a mix of dark cherry, floral/rose petal/violet, savoury/baked earth and spicy oak flavours. From a top Gibbston vineyard. A wine with energy and age-ability. (95) BOB CAMPBELL, The Real Review2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Two Paddocks The Last Chance Pinot Noir 2020More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020Pinot noirNew Zealand373$105.00 As low as $94.50 -
Burn Cottage Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2021Pinot noirNew Zealand373$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Burn Cottage Estate Pinot Noir 2021More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020Pinot noirNew Zealand373$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Burn Cottage Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022The 2022 Burn Cottage Vineyard Pinot Noir is light and fine, with a delicate array of cherry, strawberry, red apple and freshly pressed linen notes. Woven throughout is sweet tobacco, graphite, white tea and finely ground pink peppercorns. In the mouth, the acidity works with the tannins to penetrate the palate with flavor, and it has an ethereal quality to it, which marks it as distinctly different from the Sauvage Pinot Noir. This is an eminently pretty Pinot Noir and comes highly recommended. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. ERIN LARKIN, Wine Advocate
Perfumed and fragrant aromas of dark cherries, blackberry bushes, spices, wet bark and rose petals. The palate is medium-bodied with firmly integrated tannins and bright acidity, giving notes of redcurrants, wild raspberries, citrus peel and lead pencil. Refined and pure with an underlying power and tension. JAMES SUCKLING
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$110.00 As low as $99.00 -
Valli Waitaki Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2022Pinot noirNew Zealand373$115.00 As low as $103.50 -
Sato L’Insolite Pinot Noir 2021THE 2020 - Aromas of minerals, iodine and oyster shells with plums, strawberries and cherries. Medium-bodied with linear and lightly chewy fruit. Very fine tannins. Savory and juicy. So drinkable now with tannin tension and focus. Drink or hold. One for the cellar. (97) JAMES SUCKLING2021Pinot noirNew Zealand373$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Andre Clouet Rose No.3 NVClouet's rose epitomises elegance and focus, while flamboyantly celebrating the generous red cherry, strawberry, watermelon and pink pepper fruit of Bouzy. It encapsulates that wonderful talent of pinot noir to build and rise on the finish, all the while retaining graceful precision as delicate as rose petal perfume. Structure is fine and elegant, driven both by chalk minerality of the village and a very finely executed tannin presence. It finishes with great length and poise of exquisite red cherry fruit. A pristine and enticingly priced rose. Older disgorgements have taken on savoury suggestions of tamarillo, while upholding their primary integrity. TYSON STELZER
The NV Brut Rosé No 3 Grand Cru is a pure Bouzy Pinot Noir that gets its beautiful intense onion-skin color from the addition of 8% red wine. The nose is rich and complex but at the same time pure and refined, with a nice chalky layer and vinous fruit intensity. Round and rich but fresh and vital on the pure and elegant palate, this is a full-bodied, pretty intense and persistent rosé to be served with main courses. This rosé is seriously complex and expressive, with grip, tension and a long finish. Remarkable in class and style. STEPHAN REINHARDT, Wine Advocate
(made from 100% Grand Cru Bouzy pinot noir, with 8% still wine): Vivid orange-pink. Aromas and flavors of ripe red berries, candied rose and toasty lees. Fleshy but nervy and focused, with strong mineral cut and hints of bitter herbs on the very long, energetic finish. Smoothly blends richness and vivacity, making it extremely flexible with food or without. JOSH RAYNOLDSNVPinot noirFrance376$125.00 As low as $112.50 -
Rippon Mature Vine Pinot Noir 2020Extremely perfumed with a pretty ripeness and clarity, offering plums and al-dente strawberries. Some cantaloupe, too. It's medium- to full-bodied with juicy fruit that's lovely and open. You want to drink it now. And do. Crunchy yet velvety and caressing in the mouth-feel from the lovely, open tannins. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Best in a year or two, but right on. (97) JAMES SUCKLING
The 2020 Rippon Mature Vine Pinot Noir is restrained on the nose, with an earthy (i.e., of the earth, gray rocks, etc.) countenance that I find highly engaging. In the mouth, the fruit comes alive with cherry and cranberry, pomegranate pearls, graphite and pencil lead, layers of black tea, coal dust and brine. This is dark without being heavy or dense, and it’s very fine. The silty tannins linger through the finish and seem to settle on the palate, which is pleasurable. It's fresh, and it's restrained and composed. An exciting wine. ERIN LARKIN, Wine Advocate
2020Pinot noirNew Zealand373$130.00 As low as $117.00 -
Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NVPinot noir leads this accurate, well-crafted aperitif style of elegant finesse and persistence. A primary red cherry, wild strawberry and lemon fruit focus is underlined by taut acidity and expressive chalk mineral depth. Nuances of honey, anise and ginger are building as it gains maturity. It's clean and taut, a low dosage keeping the finish fresh and lively. TYSON STELZERNVchardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot noirFrance376$140.00 As low as $126.00 -
Rippon Emma's Block Pinot Noir 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019Pinot noirNew Zealand373$175.00 As low as $157.50 -
Rippon Emma's Block Pinot Noir 2020More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020Pinot noirNew Zealand373$185.00 As low as $166.50 -
Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir 2019More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2019Pinot noirNew Zealand373$190.00 As low as $171.00 -
Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir 2020More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2020Pinot noirNew Zealand373$200.00 As low as $180.00 -
Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NV 1500mlMore product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
NVPinot noirFrance376$200.00 As low as $180.00 -
Rippon Emma's Block Pinot Noir 2016More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2015Pinot noirNew Zealand373$220.00 As low as $198.00 -
Rippon Tinkers Field Pinot Noir 2018More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2015Pinot noirNew Zealand373$225.00 As low as $202.50 -
Rippon Tinkers Bequest Pinot Noir 2016More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
2016Pinot noirNew Zealand373$240.00 As low as $216.00 -
Vouette et Sorbee Blanc dArgile Brut Nature R18(R18, disgorged Nov 2020. Magnums R19, disgorged Dec 2021). Within the cold, west-facing, Kimmeridgian limestone-rich lieu-dit of Biaunes, there is a small plot of Chardonnay that Gautherot planted wild: without preparing the soils and amongst the native vegetation (a totally crazy idea). The Côte des Bar is overwhelmingly planted to Pinot Noir, but in 2000 Gautherot chose Chardonnay. He used massale cuttings from Anselme Selosse’s vines (in Avize) and Vincent Dauvissat’s Valmur Grand Cru vineyard. This plot has become the base of what Antonio Galloni calls “one of the most beautiful and distinctive wines in Champagne.”
The vines here yield only 15 to 20 hl/ha each year—one of the keys to the intensity on offer. The 2018 and 2019 wines also took in some Chardonnay from Fonnet (from 2020, upcoming vintages will also take in Chardonnay from the Vouette vineyard, which was previously planted to Pinot Noir but was replanted to Chardonnay a number of years ago).
Fermentation for this wine was wild and took place in used 500- and 600-litre barrels, with a small portion of fruit fermented and raised in Georgian amphora (see Textures). As with the Fidèle, this wine spent roughly 15 to 18 months in bottle on lees, before being disgorged by hand with zero dosage.
2015Pinot noirFrance376$245.00 As low as $220.50 -
Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 201580% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir from vines averaging 60 years old, the wine spends nearly 6 years on lees. Most importantly only the heart of the pressing is taken - 1400 litres instead of the usual 2100 litres, hence the name 'coeur de cuvee.'
The 2015 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is a pretty dense wine that belies its deceptively mid-weight structure. What surprises me most about the 2015 is how closed it is. In most years, especially warm years, Coeur de Cuvée is quite a bit more open and voluptuous, but the 2015 does not come across like that at all. Rather, it is super-classic in bearing, with tons of gravitas from the 60-year-old vines just waiting to emerge. There are none of the awkward herbal notes that penalize so many wines. Bright saline notes extend the finish effortlessly. The 2015 is a brilliant Coeur de Cuvée. ANTONIO GALLONI
2015chardonnay, Pinot noirFrance376$325.00 As low as $292.50 -
Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2016The 2016 Brut Coeur de Cuvée is an elegant, sensual Champagne. In other words, classic Vilmart. Crushed flowers, mint, chalk, slate, dried herbs and citrus peel are all beautifully delineated. Brisk acids wrap it all together in style. The 2016 needs a few years to be at its most expressive, as it is pretty reserved today. Even so, all the elements are impeccably put together. The barrels used here are one to three years old. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged: September, 2022. (94+) ANTONIO GALLONI, Vinous
Notes of honeysuckle and lime blossoms, blood orange peel, anise and cardamom are a fragrant overtone heralding this fresh Champagne, which shows good tension and drive. The refined, chalky mousse is lacy in texture, buoying finely meshed flavors of ripe apricot and quince paste, raw almond, vanilla wafer and candied ginger. Ends with a long, mouthwatering finish. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Disgorged September 2022. Drink now through 2036. (95) WINE SPECTATOR2016chardonnay, Pinot noirFrance376$340.00 As low as $306.00 -
Carbon Brut NVMore product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!
NVPinot Meunier, Pinot noirFrance376$430.00 As low as $387.00