Champagne, Hunter Valley, Loir...
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
Loire
Within France, the Loire Valley region produces the greatest diversity of wine styles. The array of wines made reflects the different sub-regions that share little in common due to the region's sweeping expanse. It's an exciting mesh of sparkling, dry, sweet, rose and reds styles.
Known as the 'Garden of France' the Loire Valley is a prolific food bowl producing delectable treats across cheese, cherries, apples, butter and vegetables. Covering 1000km from east to west, this picturesque region is a feast for both your eyes and tastebuds.
Grapes
White: Chenin Blanc, Melon de Bourgogne (Muscadet), Sauvignon Blanc
Red: Cabernet Franc, Gamay, Pinot Noir, Grolleau
Styles
The Muscadets of the Nantais are influenced by the maritime climate. These wines are subtly textured, freshly fruited and best drunk young with some oysters. Anjou is where Chenin Blanc shines in various styles - sparkling, dry and sweet. Touraine is home to the tuffeau soils which Chenin blanc loves in Vouvray, and we see some red wines here too. Lastly, in the Central Vineyards where the soils are similar to Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc is the cross-bearer producing some exhilarating wines in Sancerre and Pouilly Fume.
Favourite Producers
Pepiere, Baumard, Pierre Bise, Roches Neuves, Huet, Francois Chidaine, Didier Dageneau, Vacheron, Gerard Boulay,
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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 -
Monmousseau Brut Etoile NVThe Monmousseau Brut Etoile is also from Vouvray and made from Chenin Blanc. From the Loire Valley with love! This sparkling is just the thing to keep on hand for one of those unexpected celebrations. The Brut Etoile is produced much like Champagne, and spends a year of its life aging in the winery's 15 km of underground tunnels which are the remains of an ancient stone quarry. It is a clean and fruity sparkling wine that shows notes of honey and peach on the nose and is complemented by minerality on the palate and a dry, persistent finish. PWSNVSparkling WineFrance422Special Price $25.00 Regular Price $30.00 -
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 -
Damien Pinon Tuffo Vouvray Sec 2022Damien Pinon is the third generation of his family to naturally farm Chenin Blanc in the chalky soils of Vernou-sur-Brenne in the appellation of Vouvray. His vines are old, creating lush, expressive white wines.
Ah Tuffo! This wine seems to never fail us. Not only is it a wonderful example of classic Vouvray it always delivers that little x-factor and bit of pizzaz we like. That lovely clay/waxed citrus and quince fruit comes at you straight off-the-bat with that slaty chalky thin that chenin does in the Loire so well. Some apple and pear drop generosity on the palate is cut by crunchy acidity and a little hit of phenolic grip that stick all those beautiful flavours to your mouth. There is a little floral flourish in the middle and spritz of mixed sweet spice on the finish. A cracker!2022Chenin BlancFrance422$38.00 As low as $34.20 -
Monmousseau Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 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!
2020sauvignon BlancFrance422$38.00 As low as $34.20 -
Pichot Vouvray Sec Coteau de La Biche 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!
2023Chenin BlancFrance422$40.00 As low as $36.00 -
Jonathan Didier Pabiot Pouilly Fume Leon 2020 375mlThe 2020 Léon is surprisingly tangy and bright for this warm vintage with just 13% alcohol. It's light in body and focused while 12-18 months on lees has provided a sense of roundness and texture to the mid palate as well as a touch of autolysis-derived pastry character to the apple and citrus fruit and lightly floral aromas. Vibrant, fresh and youthful. Best enjoyed in the first three to six years of its life for its energy. REBECCA GIBB, Vinous.com
The former Florilège comes with a new name this year. Predominantly from limestone soils but also silex, the 2020 Pouilly Fumé Léon offers a clear, deep, fresh and spicy, quite complex and iodine bouquet with great precision and mineral intensity. Aged in stainless steel, concrete and 20% oak barrels (228 and 500 liter), this is a rich and round, very elegant and aromatic Pouilly-Fumé with good mineral and fruity freshness and a long, intense and tensioned finish that reveals fine tannins and crisp grip. This is a substantial wine with excellent aging potential. STEPHAN RHEINHARDT, Wine Advocate
2020sauvignon BlancFrance422$41.00 As low as $36.90 -
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 -
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 -
Rocher des Violettes Vin de France Chenin 2023The 2023 Chenin is dry, clean and pure-fruited. Youthful, with a focus on the fresh fruit that's all pear and honeydew melon, it’s light in body but rounded. This is a silky, appealing style that has some nice juicy fruit. It’s attractive from day one. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous2023Chenin BlancFrance422$46.00 As low as $41.40 -
Y.amirault Amirault Bourgueil Cote 50 2022The old La Coudraye, which changed to La Côte back in the 2018 vintage to reflect the variety of origins for the fruit. This is a sample drawn before bottling. A vibrant hue in the glass, and a beautifully pure and eager nose of black cherry, blackcurrant and damson fruits. The palate remains true to the nose, with that same sense of purity and an underbelly of soft chalk, before a sappy cherry-skin character at the end. Modestly extracted tannins, firm but not over done, with nice acidity for this warmer vintage, this should evolve nicely for some years, but should be ready to go within a year or two. The alcohol is said to be 13%. CHRIS KISSACK, Thewinedoctor.com2022Cabernet BlendsFrance422$47.00 As low as $42.30 -
Damien Pinon Vouvray Brut NVThird generation vignerons, the Pinons have 25 hectares in Vernou-sur-Brenne. 50% of their production is sparkling and 50% still wine with nothing sold off to the négoce.
We have long loved the wines of Damien Pinon and when we first tried this little number we were pretty stoked. Great sparkling Loire is such a treat. It captures all that zingy, racy, pure goodness of chenin blanc while bringing the added dimension of bubbles into the equation. They seem like a perfect partnership and we absolutely love this wine.
Quince and granny smith, talcum powder, quartyz spice and a gently honeysuckle, floral element that floats deliciously around in the background. Its pure and precise but fills out across the palate with each sip. Sometimes, Loire Sparkling is a little too lean but this deliver plenty of fruit at the same time to balance of the fine, minerally acidity.
NVChenin BlancFrance422$49.00 As low as $44.10 -
Rocher des Violettes Cot Touraine 2020This comes from a wide ranging age of vines between 5 - 129 years old on silty clay over limestone from the sites; Bel-Air, La Rochère, Le Grand Poirier and Les Borderies.
Made from Cot, the local name for malbec there's an ebullient lift to the nose of maraschino cherries, violets and fragrant blackberries with hints of black pepper thanks to the inclusion of whole bunches. A framework of tannins envelopes the intense core of dark berries with an undertow of savoury minerality to support. This is handsomely structured and will repay cellar time, though it's appealing and delicious from the outset. GABRIELLE POY
2020Cabernet FrancFrance422$50.00 As low as $45.00 -
Domaine Landron-Chartier Muscadet Coteaux de la Loire 'Melon B' 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!
2022MuscadetFrance422$52.00 As low as $46.80 -
Domaine de la Noblaie Le Temps des Cerises Chinon Rouge 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!
2020Cabernet FrancFrance422$53.00 As low as $47.70 -
Rocher des Violettes Touche Mitaine Sec Montlouis 2022The 2022 Montlouis-sur-Loire Touche-Mitaine is an aromatically restrained style that focuses more on the lemon, mineral side of Chenin Blanc, displaying notes of autolysis from a year on lees and creaminess through the mid-palate. It’s rather nicely made—hands-off and with delicate juice. The 2022 spent a year maturing in very old 228-liter barrels, allowing the purity of fruit to shine and shaping its edges. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous2022Chenin BlancFrance422$53.00 As low as $47.70
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Rocher des Violettes Touche Mitaine Sec Montlouis 2020Beautifully expressive Chenin Blanc, fusing both crystalline acidity with flecks of richness; white flowers, ripe lemons and subtle honeyed notes. Energy in glass and complexity that continually morphs as you go back for another sip; Underrated gem! JOHN BARR, BEAUNE & BEYOND
100% Chenin blanc, hand-picked in successive tries from 4ha of vines averaging 35 years old and planted at 6500 vines/ha.
2020Chenin BlancFrance422$55.00 As low as $49.50 -
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 -
Rocher des Violettes Petillant Originel Montlouis 2019A mid-gold hue, with abundant pastry notes, honeysuckle, orange balm and oatmeal accents, pointing toward a fuller-weighted, very ripe and ambitious Mountlouis fizz. A warm year. This is a commune that has strutted past Vouvray on the opposite side of the Loire, and is today responsible for a good swag of the most exciting white-wine producers in the region, if not the world. The wine finishes textural and bright, marked by chenin's lanolin, tarte tatin and dried hay, before a plume of dutiful freshness. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. NED GOODWINE MW, James Suckling
100% sparkling chenin blanc made in the Pétillant Naturel style from a single parcel in the lieu-dit “Le Moulin”
Preserved lemon and citrus pith with chalky notes sprinkled throughout and a delicate lift and soft fruit profile. Dry and chalky with a savoury edge. Pure with a seam of mineral that runs the length. Only 5 producers making this wine in Montlouis - very cool. MYLES THOMSON, PWS
2020Chenin BlancFrance422$59.00 As low as $53.10 -
Pierre Bise Savennieres Clos de Coulaine 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!
2018Chenin BlancFrance422$59.00 As low as $53.10 -
Charles Joguet Les Petites Roches Chinon Rouge 2020
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!
2020Cabernet FrancFrance422$59.00 As low as $53.10 -
Balivet Bugey Cerdon 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!
2021Sparkling WineFrance422$59.00 As low as $53.10 -
Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Sec 2022 375mlDomaine Huet reigns supreme in Vouvray. They make some of the world's most pure dry wines and piquant sweet styles from the racy and multifaceted Chenin Blanc. But you'll need patience, these powerhouses need around a decade to start revealing their inherent complexities.
Le Haut Lieu is the original vineyard, purchased by founder Gaston Huet in 1928. It's based on heavy clay and chalk in the topsoil means these wines tend to be the most approachable in youth, though they age beautifully.
The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Sec is a lithe, reductive style with floral character and talcum powder. Full of phenolic, lip-smacking texture woven through its core, lending a sense of satisfying grunt to this dry yet balanced style. Clarity, precision and harmony are keywords in this wine's execution. A little more fleeting on the finish than ideal. (5.5g/L) REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous
2022Chenin BlancFrance422$61.00 As low as $54.90 -
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 -
Rocher des Violettes Les Borderies Demi Sec Montlouis 2020From a single vineyard of 50+ year old vines on sand and silex (with pure limesonte just below).
Borderies is often the first vineyard to be harvested from slightly raisened fruit. Notes of jasmine, apple pie and crushed rocks on the nose lead into a subtle sweetness without heaviness. On the palate orchard fruits join in, signing off chalky minerality and a stream of quince-like phenolics which bring balance and punctuate the flow of sweetness. This is a delectable off-dry wine which could be served with cheese or richer seafood dishes. GABRIELLE POY
A little flint and white flowers with just picked anjou pear and a touch of pineapple and a little hint of bees wax. Fine and elegant with pure white fruits and a chalky mineral streak. Crystal clear and clean. Very pure. MYLES THOMSON, PWS
2020Chenin BlancFrance422$65.00 As low as $58.50 -
Rocher des Violettes Les Borderies Demi Sec Montlouis 2023The 2021 Montlouis-sur-Loire Demi-Sec Les Borderies is easygoing, open and ripe-fruited. A lick of sweetness comes from the 145g/l residual sugar, with bright acidity and a line of phenolic tension giving this cleansing balance. The 2021 is pure and relatively simple but harmonious. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous2021Chenin BlancFrance422$65.00 As low as $58.50
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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 -
Rocher des Violettes Le Grand Clos Sec Montlouis 2021The 2021 Montlouis-sur-Loire Le Grand Clos has generosity and a come-hither side to its personality. However, the natural acidity of this later-ripening, clay-based parcel, 91-year-old vines and the 2021 vintage means that there's a vivid line of acidity that trips through the wine, providing direction and energy. Fully dry, it leaves the drinker with a sense of uprightness. It has some richness from barrel-aging (500-liter barrels, 30% new), which lends a sweet, creamy aspect. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous2021Chenin BlancFrance422$80.00 As low as $72.00 -
Domaine de la Chevalerie Breteche Bourgueil 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!
2017Cabernet BlendsFrance422$80.00 As low as $72.00 -
Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec 2022The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous
This stunning dry Vouvray has such an exciting energy on the simultaneously focused and creamy medium-bodied palate. I love the juicy core, then the way the wet stone character builds to an impressive intensity in the long, precise finish. Still really youthful and with great aging potential.
STUART PIGOTT, JamesSuckling.com2022Chenin BlancFrance422Special Price $83.00 Regular Price $98.00 -
Bernard Baudry Chinon Le Clos Guillot 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!
2020Cabernet FrancFrance422$83.00 As low as $74.70 -
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 -
Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc 2023... its straight Sancerre Blanc, a blend of parcels (limestone 45%, flint 45% and 10% marl), is fermented in tank after being hand harvested. It is a stellar ‘entry’ wine to their range.VINOUS
Domaine Vacheron is one of Sancerre’s elite properties, producing both white and red Sancerre wines of amazing purity and definition. The domaine has been completely transformed over to biodynamic farming with two young cousins, Jean-Laurent and Jean-Dominique Vacheron, at the helm. No synthetic material is used in the vineyard, harvests are carried out exclusively by hand, and the only fertilizer used is produced from the compost pile. Yields are kept extremely low. Having inherited some of the most coveted parcels in the appellation, the cousins are trying a Burgundian approach to Sancerre winemaking, with parcels being vinified .
Flinty sparks mix with fresh thyme and grapefruit pith aromas. The pure core of fruit cascades like a waterfall onto the palate, it’s luminous and palate staining while a minerally vein reminds you of its chalky and fossil laden soils it shares with Chablis. It slithers along, finishing with a mouth watering saline finish. It’s a refined and stylish Sancerre, so very damn delicious. GABRIELLE POY
2023sauvignon BlancFrance422$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 -
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 -
Rocher des Violettes Le Grand Poirier Molleaux Montlouis 2020From a 0.8 ha plot ‘Le Grand Poirier’ planted in 1950. This has about 50% botrytis and aged in older barrels. RS 85 g/l
Smells so very strongly of fresh sage and honey and pineapple and medjool dates soaked in warm water. Lovely earthiness. Linden leaf. Saffron. An unusual nuttiness. Pineapple syrup and pressed sage on the palate. The sweetness fills the mouth but this is a wine that needs your silence, your listening, your waiting. If you give it time, sit back, find a nook in the garden or tucked into your old armchair, it's a wine that gives so much more than sweetness. It hands you memories of rain on earth, of bruised clover underneath the ripening grapes, of bees, blue skies, black skies, pink-blazed-morning skies, mist-draped dawns. You can taste yeast, old wood, black coffee, a slowly melting fingertip of dark chocolate on your tongue, ginger-biscuit crumbs. It's something, this wine. TAMLYN CURRIN, Jancis Robinson
2020Chenin BlancFrance422$90.00 As low as $85.00 -
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 -
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