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Mornington

Located in the Port Phillip Zone an hour's drive north of Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula has a short, yet remarkable history of fine wine production. While there were a smattering of vineyards in the nineteenth century, modern viticulture on the Peninsula began when Ballieu Myer established a vineyard in 1972. This began an explosion of vineyards over the next thirty years with Main Ridge (1975) Stonier Wines (1978) Dromana Estate (1982) Moorooduc Estate (1983) Paringa Estate (1985) Port Phillip Estate (1987) Kooyong Estate (1996) Yabby Lake (1998), Ten Minutes by Tractor (1999) amongst those to become established during this time. Mornington Peninsula’s proximity to Melbourne and its underlying historical status as a holiday destination has strongly influenced the region's structure, influencing land prices resulting in a patchwork of small vineyards and producers spread across the area triangulated between popular weekend destination of Somerville, Flinders on Bass Straight and Rosebud on Port Phillip Bay. The result is a number of particularly accessible cellar door facilities and restaurants catering to tourists over weekends.

A maritime climate, the influence of Mornington’s proximity to the ocean, Bass Straight, and Port Philip Bay is the single most significant climatic factor affecting vineyards, followed by the diverse typography of terrain. Overall the climate is cool, the pervasive winds limiting issues with humidity and frost. The typography soil profile is diverse, impacting on viticulture, with the significantly cooler, elevated area surrounding Red Hill and Arthurs Seat (Main Ridge, Port Philip Estate) on fertile red volcanic soils, differing from the warmer low-lying areas of Moorooduc and Tuerong (Yabby Lake) which have well-draining sandy soils.

Mornington Peninsula is renowned for the production of high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which are the most planted varieties, alongside ShirazPinot Gris and very small quantities of Sauvignon Blanc. Mornington Pinot Noir is diverse, with many single vineyard bottlings ranging from light delicate expressions to more powerful styles with wines displaying flavours of bright cherry, strawberry and nuances of earth to powerful expressions with darker fruits and firmer tannins. Outstanding producers include Kooyong, Hurley Vineyards, Port Philip Estate, Ten Minutes by TractorMoorooduc Estate and Yabby Lake. Quality conscious producers follow the same model with Chardonnay bottling premium wines from site specific vineyards. On the whole these display delicate aromas of melon, citrus, with warmer sites display fig notes. Depending on winemaking styles they also may show notes of nutty characters of cashew and toasty oak or butter. Outstanding producers include Main Ridge, Kooyong, Yabby Lake, Moorooduc and Ten Minutes by Tractor.

While only planted in small quantities Shiraz from the Mornington Peninsula displays the classic cool climate characters including spice, black and white pepper, smoked meats and liquorice. Outstanding producers are limited, though the variety is starting to gain ground with both Paringa Estate and Foxy’s Hangout winning awards at major Australian wine shows in the last three years. 

Pinot Gris is produced in small quantities and occasionally labelled as Pinot Grigio to indicate a dryer Italian style expression of the variety with T'Gallant and Quealy having had success with this variety.

Sources:
James Halliday’s Wine Atlas of Australian, James Halliday
Victorian Department of Primary Industries
Wine Australia



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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  1. Red Claw by Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2023 375ml
    Red Claw by Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2023 375ml

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  2. Kooyong Pinot Noir 2023 375ml
    Kooyong Pinot Noir 2023 375ml

    More 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!

    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  3. Handpicked Regional Selection Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2023
    Handpicked Regional Selection Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2023
    Founded on the idea of crafting outstanding wines from the world's best regions, Handpicked Wines carefully owns or partners with vineyards across Australia and beyond - from the cool reaches of Mornington Peninsula and Tasmania to iconic international regions like Barolo and Marlborough.
    Their winemaking philosophy is all about site expression, sustainable farming, and detailed winemaking that best expresses the character of each of their wines origins. With a portfolio that spans everyday drinking wines to rare, single vineyard bottlings. This wine falls into their regional range and is a selection of declassified fruit off their single vineyard expressions, contract growers and managed sites.

    It's a stellar little drop leaning into the autumnal and filigree nature of Yarra pinot but with a little more cushion and flesh that makes it so appealing. Red currant, a touch of wild strawberry and some forest fruit mix leap out of the glass with white pepper spice and touch of clove warmly greet you. Its mid-weight in style with some lovely, superfine tannins that etch the surface of the glossy fruit. There is just a kiss light toasty oak but you could barely tell while it subtly frames the pure fruits. Another pinot where you have to ask how do they make it for the money?
    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  4. Moorooduc Estate Devil Bend Creek Pinot Noir 2024
    Moorooduc Estate Devil Bend Creek Pinot Noir 2024

    I know we have said it before but honestly, how do the McIntyres do this wine for this kind of money? It always impresses and considering this is all hand-harvested, wild yeast fermented, and spends time in top-notch French oak you just have to smile with a glass in front of you.

    There is always a generosity here and 2024 has embraced that vibe  but added a little sappy detail to elevate the stakes a little more.. A touch of wild cherry and raspberry fruit, that amaro and citrus twang you often see and a sprinkle of sweet spice and whole black pepper that entices you in. It's plump through the middle with succulent fruit that zips along a fine line of tannins that bind all the fruit together beautifully.

    It's soft and supple with plenty of Joie-de-vie while delivering a serious edge that most producers in the Mornigton must be pretty jealous about.

    2024
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  5. Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 375ml
    Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022 375ml
    Vibrant ruby-red colour. Red cherry and Serrano ham aromatics. An enveloping palate, dark cherry, smoky and cured meat notes all glide with a suppleness that belies its intensity and power. Acid gently lifts it and tannins are so well integrated you have to go looking, but they definitely bring a focus and tension to the finish. (95) STUART KNOX, The Real Review
    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  6. Allies Assemblage Pinot Noir 2024
    Allies Assemblage Pinot Noir 2024

    More 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!

    2024
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  7. Red Claw by Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2023
    Red Claw by Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2023

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  8. Moorooduc Estate Pinot Noir 2022
    Moorooduc Estate Pinot Noir 2022

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  9. Quealy Tussie Mussie Pinot Noir 2021
    Quealy Tussie Mussie Pinot Noir 2021

    More 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!

    2021
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  10. Stonier Pinot Noir 2023
    Stonier Pinot Noir 2023

    More 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!

    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  11. Paradigm Hill Pinot Noir L'Ami Sage 2020 375ml
    Paradigm Hill Pinot Noir L'Ami Sage 2020 375ml
    George is winding back his production at Paradigm Hill and that is a real shame but with no new generation to take the lead he will keep at it all-be-it with a reduced output. His 2020's are some of the best in recent years and the Lamis Sage is always the more structured and tightly wound of the two single vineyards so being a half bottle and with a few years under its belt this one is a ripper!

     Intense, enticing darker red fruit aromas followed by the expected savoury, toasty, fleshy and earthy character of this wine For L’ami sage, there is also a generosity together with a long complex and balanced fresh finish. Super fine tannins melt away easily into the gossamer fruit. Lovely drop! 
    2020
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  12. Symons Pinot Noir 2023
    Symons Pinot Noir 2023

    More 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!

    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  13. Crittenden The Zumma Pinot Noir 2021
    Crittenden The Zumma Pinot Noir 2021

    More 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!

    2021
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  14. Dexter Pinot Noir 2023
    Dexter Pinot Noir 2023

    There’s a fruit party going on here with loads of wild strawberries, red cherries and cranberries, spicy, too with snips of fresh basil and menthol plus heady florals mainly roses. The palate is mid-weighted, and a fruit succulence comes through so, too, layers of tannins with the sweet oak adding a hint of bitter green walnut on the finish. In its youth, there’s a prettiness as complexity will come with age. (95) JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion

    I pretty much never drink any samples, because it’s not a good habit to get into, though maybe a few swallows might make a summer while I’m actually tasting, but hey, that’s what I call the FCE (Full Consumer Experience). Anyway, I had a few glasses of this last night while watching the documentary about Ennio Morricone – “Ennio” – which is currently streaming on Stan. Very good too, and this, in a way, while not Italian, seemed a suitable style of wine for that show. I cooked my children some duck breast for tea, with jasmine rice, steamed greens and plum sauce, but I didn’t eat any of that, though this wine would have been most excellent with it. I had a piece of bread with some Laughing Cow cheese on it. Economies must be made.

    Fine, kind of stony, perfumed, cherry and red fruit, gentle spiced oak, something a little earthy/autumnal too. It’s light to medium-bodied, pleasantly sappy, with a good crunch to acidity, really pleasing pumice stone tannin, and a offers a juicy/savoury finish of excellent length, with a little blood orange bite. Very nice. (94) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

    Pretty and lifted aromas of cherry, briar, sap, Asian spice, redcurrant, underbrush and a woodsy earthiness. Structured, fine, delicate, long and layered. There’s a supple drive of pure red fruits, subtle oak and textured tannins. Precise and pretty pinot. AARON BRASHER, The Real Review

    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  15. Onannon Tuerong Robinson Pinot Noir 2022
    Onannon Tuerong Robinson Pinot Noir 2022
    A savoury and brooding wine with dark red fruits wrapped in woodsy, herbal spice. It's earthy in that forest floor after rain type of way with plenty of wholebunch giving sinew to it's frame and a distinctive savoury injection. There's a little, press of powdery tannin on the finish. It's a little wild and inward but if you like your pinots like this it's going to be right up your alley. ALEX DOBSON, PWS
    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  16. Onannon Main Ridge Tudibaring Pinot Noir 2022
    Onannon Main Ridge Tudibaring Pinot Noir 2022

    So pretty and appealing thanks to its up-front red cherries and spice flavours. At first quite fruit-sweet, then other elements come into play: tangy, tart, pomegranate-like acidity, a touch of menthol. The oak is oh-so-subtle, adding some background nuances to the lighter-framed palate with lacy tannins. This is lovely. All fruit is destemmed, cold soaked for seven days in a carbonic environment and spends six weeks on skins, then pressed straight to oak, 15% new. (95) JANE FAULKNER Wine Companion

    Red fruit, pimento, cinnamon and spice, poached strawberry and rhubarb, a little cedar oak. It’s all red fruit, some pomegranate and tamarind tang, light dusty and peppery tannin, a quiet sappy succulence, with a bright and zesty finish of excellent length. Very good. (94) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  17. Onannon Red Hill Harrisons Road Pinot Noir 2022
    Onannon Red Hill Harrisons Road Pinot Noir 2022
    There’s plenty of whole bunch character, though the fruit here is up to the task. Dark raspberry, cherry, peppery and spicy, cardamom pod perfume, with a little toasty oak. Good flavour, density and weight, a dry grip to tannin with the graphite character of whole bunch as a positive, and the finish is long and firm. Nicely done. Very good wine. (95) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front
    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  18. Moorooduc Estate Robinson Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
    Moorooduc Estate Robinson Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  19. Symons Georgica Pinot Noir 2023
    Symons Georgica Pinot Noir 2023

    More 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!

    2023
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  20. Quealy Seventeen Rows Pinot Noir 2021
    Quealy Seventeen Rows Pinot Noir 2021
    The most structured offering in the Quealy stable – the tannins are textural with seemingly more fruit weight. It still has the vivacity of the ’21 vintage, yet incorporates hints of sweet and tart rhubarb, dark cherries, mocha and dried herbs plus cedar oak flavour. The palate doesn’t quite flesh out, even if it is medium bodied, as the acidity is keeping everything reined in, bar the slightly bitter, charred radicchio character on the finish, which adds to the mouthfeel and pleasure of drinking.
    (95) JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion

    Strong release. Both woodsy spice and oak notes aplenty but with the fruit to support it. Back cherries, strawberries, toast and coffee grounds, with cedar and dried herb notes over the top. Both inherently complex and inherently bold, even at 12.6% alc. Savoury to the point of bitter, but not. Firm-ish. It’s not for drinking now; it’s built to be matured.  (93+) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

    Complex foresty, earthy, leaf-litter aromas and flavours. Peppery and Campari-like wholebunch touches. There’s an individualism and singular character in this wine. Very enjoyable."
    (93) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

    2021
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  21. Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
    Yabby Lake Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023

    Medium red with a tinge of purple and a complex foresty bouquet of sour cherry, undergrowth and leaf-litter, with a hint of five spice. Palate is intense, bright and lively with fleshy richness and very fine, supple tannins in perfect balance with the flavour. Delicious pinot noir. HUON HOOKE, Real Review

     

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  22. Moorooduc Estate McIntyre Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022
    Moorooduc Estate McIntyre Vineyard Pinot Noir 2022

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  23. Elanto Balnarring Pinot Noir 2023
    Elanto Balnarring Pinot Noir 2023

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  24. Paringa Estate Robinson Pinot Noir 2017
    Paringa Estate Robinson Pinot Noir 2017

    More 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!

    2011
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  25. Crittenden Estate 'Cri de Coeur' Pinot Noir 2021
    Crittenden Estate 'Cri de Coeur' Pinot Noir 2021
    Fragrant, well-balanced Pinot Noir offering energetic red cherry/strawberry flavours with attractive floral lifts. There’s a touch more weight on this release than has become customary for this label but even so it’s generally slender and elegant. It’s good now but into the medium term it will age well. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

    The cooler season seems to suit Cri de Coeur as of all the pinots, this has the deepest colour – a vibrant garnet, and has amalgamated the best at this early stage. Fragrant with florals and autumn leaves after rain with flavours of morello and sweet red cherries, tamarind and turmeric, pepper and aniseed melding into the medium-bodied palate. The raw silk tannins have some sway and are just coming into unison, with the acidity allowing a lingering finish. JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion
    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  26. Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NV
    Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NV
    The 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 GALLONI
    NV
    Pinot noir
    France
    376
  27. Hurley Hommage Pinot Noir 2022
    Hurley Hommage Pinot Noir 2022

    Homage faces north-east, is the smallest of the vineyards, was planted from cuttings taken from Main Ridge Estate, and – important on the Peninsula – is the most sheltered of the vineyards.

    This release is better than excellent. It’s elegant and fine-boned but it has genuine power, most of the latter formed, assembled and employed through the back half of the palate and out through the finish. It’s a Pinot Noir for lovers of Pinot Noir. It’s modestly sweet-sour but it’s silken and cohesive, its black cherry, meat, toast and floral elements singing as one. This is my favourite of the 2022 Hurley Vineyards pinots; they’re all good, but this for me is the most complete. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  28. Hurley Lodestone Pinot Noir 2022
    Hurley Lodestone Pinot Noir 2022

    Lodestone is north-facing and the warmest of the three sites. But it’s planted to the Burgundian clones 114, 115 and 777 (along with some MV6), and the soils the vines are planted in are rockier. (The Hurley Vineyard is currently for sale, if anyone is interested.)

    This is an excellent release. Taut, perfumed, meaty in essence but pretty at the same time. Floral. Its tastes of game, black cherries and strawberries-dipped-in-chocolate, the latter of which makes it sound ‘sweet’ but it’s not; there are so many earth/spice/smoke/meat characters here that it largely comes across as savoury. This will age but I’d personally drink it now; there’s already so much going on. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  29. Ten Minutes by Tractor Judd Pinot Noir 2022
    Ten Minutes by Tractor Judd Pinot Noir 2022

    More 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!

    2022
    Pinot noir
    Australia
    441
  30. Andre Clouet Rose No.3 NV
    Andre Clouet Rose No.3 NV

    Clouet'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 RAYNOLDS

     

    NV
    Pinot noir
    France
    376
  31. Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NV
    Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NV
    Pinot 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 STELZER
    NV
    chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot noir
    France
    376
  32. Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NV 1500ml
    Dosnon Blanc de Noirs NV 1500ml

    More 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!

    NV
    Pinot noir
    France
    376
  33. Vouette et Sorbee Blanc dArgile Brut Nature R18
    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.
    2015
    Pinot noir
    France
    376
  34. Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2015
    Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2015
    80% 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
    2015
    chardonnay, Pinot noir
    France
    376
  35. Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2016
    Vilmart Coeur de Cuvee 2016
    The 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 SPECTATOR
    2016
    chardonnay, Pinot noir
    France
    376
  36. Carbon Brut NV
    Carbon Brut NV

    More 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!

    NV
    Pinot Meunier, Pinot noir
    France
    376
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