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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $486.00 $540.00
Initially the wine is all firm tannins, but then there is a pure line of fresh black fruits that comes through, with...
12 FREE
WE
95
DC
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $100.00
12 bottles: $98.00
Taking advantage of the delicious fruit of 2006, this Branaire-Ducru shows a charming side. It brings out ripe, spicy...
12 FREE
WE
92
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90
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $219.78
Not a wine that will please everyone. This has the austerity and backward thinking of 2006 mixed with the sleek fruit...
12 FREE
DC
93
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93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $707.58 $786.20
Barrel Sample Dark chocolate and mocha flavors, very dark and intense, this is a big, concentrated wine, flavored...
12 FREE
WE
98
WA
97
Red
750ml
Bottle: $234.95
Cos d'Estournel has softened those austere Saint-Estèphe tannins and produced a wine that is all opulence and...
12 FREE
WE
95
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94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $49.20
12 bottles: $48.22
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $227.34 $252.60
This is not quite as silky smooth and rich as the 2005 and yet it's full of promise. It feels young, with tannins...
12 FREE
DC
95
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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $91.71 $101.90
After initial tastings suggested there was too much tannin, the wine has undergone a welcome transformation. It has...
12 FREE
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94
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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $124.74 $138.60
Among the most seductive noses from Pauillac. Strong, cassis-stained palate with a lovely sense of upwards motion and...
12 FREE
DC
96
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94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $120.20
12 bottles: $113.05
Deep, intense brambly fruit unfurls gently over the palate. Not yet reached its tertiary stage but this knows where...
12 FREE
DC
93
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91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $622.08 $691.20
Less obvious than La Mission, this is more about charcoal, grilled berries and crisp minerality, with a near-perfect...
12 FREE
DC
96
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96
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $126.99 $141.10
The 2006 Haut Bailly is just now entering its prime drink window, and is certainly a gorgeous bottle of wine. Still...
12 FREE
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95
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $64.95
12 bottles: $63.65
A strong sleeper of the vintage, this sexy, hedonistic, modern-styled St.-Emilion has the tell-tale toasty new oak...
12 FREE
WA
90
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $463.50
Colour still tight and inky at 10 years old. Smooth, silky, very expressive; this is so powerful it almost lulls you...
12 FREE
DC
97
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96
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $744.48 $827.20
As to the Grand Vin, the 2006 Latour showed beautifully. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance mostly...
12 FREE
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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $126.99 $141.10
Right at the top of its form, this 2006 is one of the finest wines to come out of the vintage. The wine is structured...
12 FREE
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94
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Sale
Red
375ml
Bottle: $108.27 $120.30
Slowly and confidently inching towards its drinking window, but needs another three to five years before it gets...
12 FREE
DC
94
WE
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $216.00 $240.00
Slowly and confidently inching towards its drinking window, but needs another three to five years before it gets...
12 FREE
DC
94
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94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $643.50 $715.00
Plenty of tannins still in play, and it is dense, powerful and reserved even at 15 years old. The tertiary notes of...
12 FREE
DC
95
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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $180.99 $201.10
Beautiful, rich and incredibly softly textured, this is still very young. Also supremely measured and stately, with...
12 FREE
DC
95
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94

Dessert Wine Melon de Bourgogne Red Bordeaux 2006

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.

There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.