Champagne, Hunter Valley, Chab...
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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Thomas Synergy Semillon 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!
2022SemillonAustralia407$24.00 As low as $21.60 -
Tyrrells Rufus Stone Heathcote Shiraz 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!
2016SemillonAustralia407$25.00 As low as $22.50 -
De Iuliius Estate Shiraz 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!
2023shirazAustralia407$27.00 As low as $24.30 -
Margan Breaking Ground Rosato 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!
2022Barbera, Merlot, Pinot GrisAustralia407$30.00 As low as $27.00 -
Mt Pleasant Elizabeth Semillon 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!
2018SemillonAustralia407$30.00 As low as $27.00 -
Tyrrells HVD Semillon 2018
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!
2014SemillonAustralia407$42.00 As low as $37.80 -
La Chantemerle Chablis VV 2023 375mlMore 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!
2023chardonnayFrance375$45.00 As low as $40.50 -
De Bortoli Noble One 2020 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!
2019SemillonAustralia407$46.00 As low as $41.40 -
La Chantemerle Chablis Fourchaume 1er 2023 375mlTHE 2022 - More intense and less simply citrus than the straight Chablis. Riper, and more textured, pithy lemon and grapefruit. The texture makes this wine. Long, too. JULIA HARDING MW, www.jancisrobinson.com
A step up in quality and intensity, but also a bity more tightly wound than the Village wine. Also, more awash with minerality, bordering on estuarine (a character I love with these wines), and that really brings the Chabliness to the fore. Along with a crisp, but ripe, array of fruit a little grip and a crunch of acidity, this is pretty textbook Fourchaume from Chantemerle and I think will expand well with a few years in the cellar, but that ample fruit and weight provides a tonne of upfront pleasure in the early days.2023chardonnayFrance375$48.00 As low as $43.20 -
Laroche Chablis Chanoines 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!
2007chardonnayFrance375$54.00 As low as $48.60 -
La Chantemerle Petit Chablis 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!
2023chardonnayFrance375$54.00 As low as $48.60 -
Mount Pleasant Rosehill Shiraz 2022Dried roses, boysenberry and classic Rosehill Shiraz character, but with a deeper more rugged, peppery and earthy cast. Medium-bodied, tannin slightly tough, red and blue fruit, pepper and spice, baked raspberry, and a slightly raw finish, but length is solid. It's a bit closed in as a young wine, but should turn out pretty well. It's a nice wine all up, from a more difficult vintage. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front2022shirazAustralia407$56.00 As low as $50.40 -
Brokenwood Hunter Valley Shiraz 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!
2022shirazAustralia407$56.00 As low as $50.40 -
William Fevre Petit Chablis 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!
2023chardonnayFrance375$59.00 As low as $53.10 -
Seguinot Bordet Chablis VV 2023OUSTANDING. TOP VALUE. Based on the nose, this could be from nowhere else but Chablis with its quinine, petrol, oyster shell, lemongrass and algae scents that are trimmed in just enough wood to merit mentioning. The rich, sleek and solidly concentrated medium weight flavors possess excellent intensity as well as an abundance of sappy dry extract that buffers the firm acid spine supporting the clean, dry and youthfully austere finale where a touch of rusticity eventually appears. This is an excellent Chablis villages and recommended. BURGHOUND2023chardonnayFrance375 -
Mount Pleasant Old Paddock & Old Hill Shiraz 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!
2023shirazAustralia407$62.00 As low as $55.80 -
Laroche Chablis 'St Martin' 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!
2007chardonnayFrance375$62.00 As low as $55.80 -
Pierrick Laroche Chablis Chatillons 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!
2022chardonnayFrance375 -
La Chantemerle Chablis VV 2023THE 2022 - Dusty/mineral and fragrant citrus. Surprisingly full on the palate, still that stony-mineral dry effect but also a roundness that softens the finish. Tightly wound for now. JULIA HARDING MW, www.jancisrobinson.com
The 23 is built on ease of operation. Slightly more forward than the 2022 with a solid push of fruit, plenty of citrus zest, green apple and edging on some more ripe, seemingly juicy characters that expand out nicely. Punchy acidity freshens things up and the all too important salty twang, that we expect from Chantemerle, makes itself known throughout. Like all of Boudin's wines the balance is what will carry it in the cellar, if required, but for me this is right in the zone for more early drinking. Typically excellent. ROSCOE
2023chardonnayFrance375$65.00 As low as $58.50 -
Clotilde Davenne Petit Chablis 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!
2020chardonnayFrance375$65.00 As low as $58.50 -
Servin Cuvee Les Pargues Chablis 2023
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2023chardonnayFrance375$65.00 As low as $58.50 -
Andre Clouet Grande Reserve NV 375mlANDRE CLOUET (9/10)
Bouzy and Ambonnay are the epicentre of pinot noir in Champagne, and the Clouet family is the priviledged custodian of eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of both villages. These are rich and concentrated expressions of pinot noir, wines of deep complexity, multi faceted interest and engaging character, yet with remarkable restraint and sense of control. Recent tastings confirm my impression that this small and relatively unknown grower ranks high among Champagne's finest practitioners of pinot noir - and expresses one of the best value of all.
100% Bouzy and Ambonnay pinot noir. 6g/L dosage
Release after release, year after year, I have always marvelled at the lemon blossom freshness that Clouet manages to capture in pinot noir from two of Champagne's most powerful terroirs. Here it is again, in a captivating interplay of fleshy mirabelle plums, white peaches, crunchy golden delicious apples, and even a hint of pepper. Wild honey and mixed spice join the maelstrom along the way, gliding obediently into a well defined finish of soft minerality and integrated dosage. TYSON STELZER, The Champagne Guide 2014-2015
(100% Pinot Noir)The NV Brut Grande Reserve offers up layers of mineral-infused red fruits on a silky, mid-weight frame, with gorgeous length and a refined, subtle mousse. This impeccable, elegant wine shows terrific overall balance as well as complexity. I loved it. Andre Clouet is based in Bouzy, a village where Pinot Noir speaks with great eloquence, as is evident in these superb, pedigreed Champagnes. ANTONIO GALLONI, Robert ParkerNVChampagneFrance376$66.00 As low as $59.40 -
Vinden Somerset Vineyard Single Barrel Shiraz (North) 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!
2021shirazAustralia407$68.00 As low as $61.20 -
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Bollinger Special Cuvee NV 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!
NVChampagneFrance376$73.00 As low as $65.70 -
William Fevre Chablis 2022FIVE STARS - To bottle in November. The average age is 40 year old vines, and 10% in wood. Excellent long finish. Sources are Chablis and Chichée for half and the rest in Viviers, 50 year old vines. Well drained steep slope which though south facing is at altitude and stays fresh. A fresh lemon yellow. The nose is a little more subdued than the Petit Chablis but more classical. This too has the attractive saline bitterness of extreme youth, but the fruit builds beautifully on the palate. Drink from 2025-2030 JASPER MORRIS MW
TOP VALUE - There is slightly better Chablis typicity present on the aromas of mineral reduction, iodine and cool white fleshed fruit. There is also slightly better volume and richness to the delicious medium weight flavors that possess a lovely sense of underlying tension, all wrapped in a refreshing, clean, dry and sleek finale. This is very good for its level plus it should reward a few years of keeping if desired. BURGHOUND
Distinct shellfish notes. Plenty of volume, a fleshy sunny character on the palate, freshened by lingering salinity to finish. Top example of AP Chablis in 2022. From 40ha of vines, with three distinct plots, including one from a lovely vineyard to the east around Viviers, with vines planted in the 1960s, but all of the vines have plenty of age. DECANTER
2022chardonnayFrance375$74.00 As low as $66.60 -
Louis Michel Petit Chablis 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!
2023chardonnayFrance375$74.00 As low as $66.60 -
Louis Michel Chablis 2023The quite strict 2023 Chablis Village offers Granny Smith and orange rind on the nose, with light mango scents emerging with aeration. The palate is taut and fresh with a slight creaminess in texture towards the finish. Drink over 4-5 years. NEAL MARTIN, Vinous
The grapes come from eight different areas, which are mainly located on the left bank of the Serein river, Pargues in the Forêts valley, and Vaillons. They are blended with the parcel located just below the Montée de Tonnerre, to create this authentic Chablis. No added yeast, long fermentation using indigenous yeasts, in temperature-controlled vats. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation.Matured for 6 to 10 months. In stainless steel tanks, with the least possible handling. Long moderately cold stabilisation. Fining using bentonite if necessary. The wine is gently filtered once before bottling
2023chardonnayFrance375$78.00 As low as $70.20 -
Clotilde Davenne Chablis 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!
2023chardonnayFrance375$79.00 As low as $71.10 -
Domaine Vrignaud Chablis 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!
2021chardonnayFrance375$80.00 As low as $72.00 -
Domaine d'Henri '821" Chablis Brut Nature 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!
2020chardonnayFrance375$82.00 As low as $73.80 -
Patrick Piuze Chablis 'Terroir de Fye' 2023From a small 2.5 hectare plot that sits adjacent to Montee de Tonnerre 1er cu.2021chardonnayFrance375$83.00 As low as $74.70 -
Thierry Laffay Chablis Vieille Vignes 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!
2020chardonnayFrance375$84.00 As low as $75.60 -
Roland Lavantureux Chablis 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!
2022chardonnayFrance375$84.00 As low as $75.60 -
Apollonis Authentic Meunier Blanc de Noir Brut NVBased in the Marne Valley, this producer has a predominance of Pinot Meunier in many of its Champagnes. Winemaker Marie Petit Loriot plays the tanks music as the wine ferments. This fruity wine is vibrant, densely textured and at the dry end of Brut. WINE ENTHUSIASTNVChampagneFrance376$85.00 As low as $76.50 -
La Chantemerle Chablis Fourchaume 2023 1erTHE 2022 - More intense and less simply citrus than the straight Chablis. Riper, and more textured, pithy lemon and grapefruit. The texture makes this wine. Long, too. JULIA HARDING MW, www.jancisrobinson.com
A step up in quality and intensity, but also a bity more tightly wound than the Village wine. Also, more awash with minerality, bordering on estuarine (a character I love with these wines), and that really brings the Chabliness to the fore. Along with a crisp, but ripe, array of fruit a little grip and a crunch of acidity, this is pretty textbook Fourchaume from Chantemerle and I think will expand well with a few years in the cellar, but that ample fruit and weight provides a tonne of upfront pleasure in the early days. ROSCOE
2023chardonnayFrance375$85.00 As low as $76.50 -
Moet & Chandon Imperial 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!
ChampagneFrance376$86.00 As low as $77.40 -
Brimoncourt Regence NVA lightly toasty and flavorful Champagne with notes of praline, candied walnut, lemon peel and grilled orange. Fine bubbles. Pretty balance of toasty nut and zesty citrus. Dry feel. JAMES SUCKLINGNVChampagneFrance376$87.00 As low as $78.30 -
Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Chardonnay 2022Marvellous chardonnay. Flavoursome, flinty, fleshy and complete. Stonefruits and white flowers, cedarwood and meal, a quartz-like aspect and plenty of struck match. But harmonious at every single turn. And then there's the finish, which is seriously well sustained. One sip and I was convinced. The score could well be stingy. (95+) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, winefront.com
The sort of wine that unravels with air, from a torque of initial restraint, to a more open weave. Fine contemporary chardonnay, delivered with a cooler climatic edge and Australia's typical clarity of fruit and suffusion of tension. Granitic. Sub-alpine. A meld that delivers gentle stone fruit allusions, kumquat and a seam of oak, impeccably integrated… NED GOODWIN MW, jamessuckling.comAussie winelovers need little prompting when it comes to elite Chardonnay from the Beechworth region which is home to some of our very best. This wine, mostly from the Mendoza clone, sees whole bunch pressing and a wild yeast ferment in new French oak, which is mostly 500-litre puncheons. A lean, pale yellow hue, this is obviously still very young, indeed almost raw, but it is certainly coming together. We have notes of citrus and cashews, with melon and peach. A minerally backing, juicy acidity and impressive length. This will be better in 12 months and should drink beautifully for the following five to six years, possibly considerably more. KEN GARGETT, winepilot.com
2022chardonnayAustralia407$88.00 As low as $79.20 -
Seguinot Bordet Chablis Fourchaume 2023 1erSWEET SPOT. OUTSTANDING. An attractively layered nose features airy and cool notes of mint, quinine, lemon rind and brine flirts with a background application of oak. The more elegant middle weight flavors are akin to rolling a tiny pebble around the mouth while the balanced, clean and dry finale already possesses fine complexity and length. This is also very good and equally warmly recommended. BURGHOUND2023chardonnayFrance375 -
Brocard Pierre Champagne 'Tradition' NVBrocard Pierre's entry-level and only blended-grape expression of Champagne, Cuvée Tradition Brut, spends three years on the lees in bottle before release, which in our opinion, makes it one of the best quality-for-value wine of Champagne.
The Tradition is made of Pinot Noir (80%), Chardonnay (10%) and Pinot Blanc (10%) grapes from vineyards planted on clay-calcareous soil near Celles-sur-Ource. 2018 vintage reserve wine makes up the dominant base, while 30% comes from different réserve vintages. The juice was fermented in oak (15%) and stainless steel (85%) at controlled temperature. The wine then spent 4 months in stainless steel, and it was aged on lees for 2.5 years. It has 6g/l of dosage.
A flattering nose dominated by the Pinot Noir. Good harmony in the mouth, strength associated with freshness but not heavy accompanied by a slightly mentholated finish. Ripe citrus. Unctuous mousse. Chalky, mineral and saline and mouth coating. Generous autolitic notes.
NVChampagneFrance376$89.00 As low as $80.10 -
Draytons Museum Release Shiraz 2010
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!
2010shirazAustralia407$89.00 As low as $80.10 -
Thierry Fournier Blanc de Blanc NVJulien explains that the Marne Valley vines sit in clay limestone soils, often giving richer Chardonnay notes than fruit from the Cote de Blancs. That said this is still very, very precise and fine with a rich mid palate for sure but then a precise, linear finish. To describe the flavour profile as ‘Chablis with bubbles’ would be perhaps to over-simplify things but this certainly makes for a sleek yet flavourful NV. Importer CellarHandNVChampagneFrance376$90.00 As low as $81.00 -
Patrick Piuze Chablis La Grande Vallee 2023OUTSTANDING, TOP VALUE - there is a lovely sense of underlying tension to the wonderfully seductive if not quite as concentrated flavors that possess a caressing texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent finale that may well possess the best length of the range. With that said, this definitely needs better depth and my rating offers the benefit of the doubt that more will develop if given a chance. Recommended provided you intend to cellar it. BURGHOUND2023chardonnayFrance375$90.00 As low as $81.00 -
Vilmart Ratafia de Champagne 500mlSTAFF PICKS 2024 - KAYLEEN REYNOLDS
Easily the best Ratafia I have ever tasted. Yes, the sample size is not large but it comes as no surprise knowing Vilmart's track record of making fine wines. Ratafia de Champenois AKA Champagne's vin de liqueur.
100% chardonnay from premier cru sites in village Rilly-la-Montagne of Montagne de Reims. Fermentation is stopped before completion by adding young grape spirit resulting in a sweet, full-flavoured wine that is delicate and oh so elegant. A must have for the festive season alongside Nan's pavlova or a stinky wash rind cheese. (serve chilled)
Candied apricots, lemon curd and cashew nut, instantly we know we are onto a great thing here! On tasting, we see wild honey on buttered toast with orange peel and white nectarine, all laced around stoney minerality. The impeccable balance of flavour intensity, residual sugar and grape spirit is remarkable. Persistent length is matched with refreshment. Finesse through and through. KAYLEEN REYNOLDS, pws
The 2013 Ratafia (Chardonnay) is laced with hints of dried fruit, almond, dried flowers and chamomile. It offers gorgeous complexity, along with notable energy and freshness. It is a very fine, elegant Ratafia. ANTONIO GALLONI
NVchardonnayFrance376$90.00 As low as $81.00 -
Patrick Piuze Chablis Le Bas de Chapelot 2023OUTSTANDING, TOP VALUE - the brightness and freshness on the palate of the beautifully textured, seductive and sappy medium weight flavors that already possess solid depth and length is such that I doubt the reduction will persist. Moreover, there is sufficient potential here to reward at least mid-term keeping and perhaps even up to a decade for those who enjoy well-aged Chablis. BURGHOUND2023chardonnayFrance375$90.00 As low as $81.00 -
Veuve Fourny Grand Terroirs 1er Cru Brut NVA blend of 80% chardonnay (grand cru) and 20% pinot noir (premier cru) mostly from Vertus. Small oak and 40% reserve wines included. 3 consecutive vintages make up the blend. Brut style with 6 grams dosage.NVChampagneFrance376$91.00 As low as $81.90 -
Maison Gamet Champagne 'Rive Gauche" NVA blend of fruit from several Mardeuil terroirs. 33% Pinot Meunier, 33% Pinot Noir and 33% Chardonnay. It’s vinified entirely in stainless steel. The wine spends 35 to 40 months on lees before disgorgement.NVChampagneFrance376$92.00 As low as $82.80