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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $15.05
12 bottles: $14.75
A classic dry and crisp Brut from clay and chalk soil vineyards in the Anjou and Touraine regions of the Loire Valley...
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $15.41
12 bottles: $15.10
A classic dry and crisp Brut Rosé made of 100% Cabernet Franc from clay and chalk soil vineyards in the Anjou and...
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $13.99
A delicious Crémant that punches well above the weight of its price tag. Its intense pink salmon hue hints at the...
DC
90
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $16.94 $18.80
12 bottles: $15.05
Peach and honey with smoky mineral notes. Toasted plums and voluminous mouthfeel moving to a crisp finish. (Bronze) -...
DC
88
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $20.94
12 bottles: $20.52
Sliced pears, lemon curd, white peaches and pastries on the nose. Medium-bodied with a creamy mousse and subtle,...
WE
89
JS
89
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $23.94 $25.60
12 bottles: $23.56
Plump and forward overall, with a bracing streak of walnut running through a core of friendly pear and apple notes,...
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $17.94
12 bottles: $17.58
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $18.60
12 bottles: $18.23
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $19.18 $20.19
12 bottles: $18.62
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $19.94
12 bottles: $19.54
Lightly floral on the nose with peach and apricot aromas. This is crisp and dry on the palate with the mouth...
DC
89
WE
89
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $22.00
12 bottles: $21.56
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $28.80
12 bottles: $28.22
Pure notes of rose hip and currant are prominent in this intense sparkler, with vibrant acidity cutting through,...
12 FREE
WS
88
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $27.55
12 bottles: $27.00
The vines for both average 45 years old and have been certified-organic since 2007. The fruit is harvested manually...
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $34.95
12 bottles: $34.25
100% Chenin Blanc. Pinon makes two brut sparkling wines, both of which are made with the méthode champenoise and...
12 FREE
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $27.95 $29.60
A fine nose with a lovely presence of minerals and honeycomb. Pure and polished with great acidity and delicate...
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $17.94 $18.48
12 bottles: $14.25
A bright sparkler, with fresh pear and green apple notes laced with a hint of verbena. Racy finish. Drink now. 1,667...
WS
88
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $19.00 $20.00
Direct pressed (no saignée, though), fermented in concrete and finished on the bottle to take the mousse, the NV Vin...
WA
90
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $22.23 $23.40
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $26.94 $28.00
12 bottles: $26.60
The 2020 Brut Nature is a traditional method sparkling Chenin. It's a carefully made, cleansing aperitif style. Grown...
VM
90
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $14.99
Rich minerality, baked goods, and lemon rind are apparent on the nose of this sparkling wine. Fine, piquant bubbles...
UBC
90

Champagne Blend Petite Sirah Zinfandel France Loire Valley 750ml

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn't unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as 'blanc de blanc', meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or 'blanc de noir', which is made solely with Pinot Noir.

Petite Sirah was first brought from France to America in the 1880s. It later went on to become one of the only grapes to make it through the devastating Phylloxera virus in the 1890s, both World Wars, and the Great Depression. During Prohibition, it was a main ingredient used to make sacramental wines. In fact, through the 1960s it was a major blending grape in a number of the finest wines produced in California.

By itself, a bottle of Petite Sirah usually has no problem making a quick impression on consumers. With a large amount of natural color and tannins, wines made with the grape commonly feature intensive sweet fruit characteristics like fresh raspberry or blackberry jam, black pepper spice, and plenty of backbone or structure.

There are a number of different styles available. Some concentrate on highlighting fresh, fruity flavors; others are bigger, more voluptuous; and it keeps going up the ladder until you reach the powerful, more machismo-style category.

The precise origins of what became known as the Zinfandel grape variety are uncertain, although it has clear genetic equivalents in both Puglia and Croatia. However, when it was brought to the New World in the mid 19th century, it became known as the Zinfandel, and has been consistently popular and widely grown ever since. These very dark and very round grapes have a remarkably high sugar content, resulting in relatively high levels of alcohol in the wines they are made into, with bottles often displaying as much as fifteen percent. What makes the Zinfandel such an interesting grape, though, is the fact that the flavors produced by this varietal vary considerably depending on the climate they are grown in. In cooler valley regions, the Zinfandel grapes result in wines which hold strong flavors of tart and sweet fruits; raspberry, redcurrant and sweet cherry, held in a very smooth and silky liquid. Conversely, warmer regions result in more complex and spicy notes, including anise, pepper and hedgerow berries.

Year in, year out, France enjoys its prestigious reputation as the producer of the finest wines in the world. With a wine making history which spans several thousand years and owes its expertise to the Romans, it comes as little surprise that this most highly esteemed of the Old World wine countries continues to impress and enchant both novices and experts to this day. Despite the rise in quality of wines from neighboring European countries, not to mention the New World, the French wine industry continues to boom, with up to eight billion bottles being produced in recent years. However, France prides itself on always putting quality before quantity, and the wide range in fine produce is a testament to the dedication and knowledge of the wineries across the country. Indeed, from rich and complex reds to light and aromatic white wines, French wines are as varied and interesting as they are enjoyable to drink, making this country a firm favorite for wine lovers across the globe.

Within France, the one region most closely associated with fine white and rosé wines is surely the Loire Valley. With over eight controlled appellations, and a relatively large expanse of land covering this wide valley, the Loire Valley is an ideal location for wineries wishing to produce large quantities of excellent quality vines for their wine production. Indeed, this region has been associated with excellent white wines for over a thousand years, with it once being the favorite wine region for the crowned heads of England, France and beyond. Today, it produces a wide range of white wines, and several rosé and red varieties also. It is also widely celebrated for being home to some of France's most lively and fruity sparkling crémant wines, which more than match those produced in nearby Champagne.