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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $92.40
This is really delicious, with buttered-brioche and bread-dough character. It's full bodied but not heavy. Just rich...
12 FREE
DC
93
JS
93
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $146.40
Pure mature Chardonnay gives this Champagne richness and a full texture. It is impressive, its crisp character...
12 FREE
WE
95
BH
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.99
12 bottles: $15.67
Savory undertones of grilled thyme, fresh earth and smoky mineral flank the steeped cherry and raspberry fruit...
12 FREE
WS
89
Red
750ml
Bottle: $35.40
12 bottles: $34.69
Offering up aromas of dark chocolate, roasting game bird and small wild berries, the 2016 Côte de Brouilly is medium...
12 FREE
WA
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $38.95
12 bottles: $38.17
The 2016 Fleurie Clos Vernay wafts from the glass with a nuanced bouquet of raspberries, wild plums, dark chocolate...
12 FREE
WA
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $28.80
12 bottles: $28.22
The 2016 Fleurie Joie de Palais was lucky to escape the hail that stopped 50 meters from Lafarge’s parcel. It has a...
WA
88
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $78.30
Light notes of tangerine, quince, orange blossom, almonds on the nose with just a touch of caramel and smokiness....
12 FREE
Case only
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sale
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $186.94
12 bottles: $183.20
Disgorged in October 2019, Larmandier-Bernier's 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Chemins d'Avize is...
12 FREE
WA
96
VM
94
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $174.95 $177.19
Disgorged in February 2022 as a brut zero (1g/L of dosage), Le Clos des Trois Clochers 2016 (100% Chardonnay) is...
12 FREE
DC
94
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $241.20
6 bottles: $240.00
A firm Champagne, almost crunchy in texture, with steely acidity framing notes of macerated blackberry and cherry...
12 FREE
DC
92
WS
92
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $79.93
Fantastic aroma of Mara des Bois strawberries. Very juicy with an explosion of strawberries and ripe nectarines....
12 FREE
JS
95
DC
94
Sparkling
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sale
Sparkling
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $215.65 $227.00
The 2016 Extra-Brut Special Club Lieu-Dit Les Fortes Terres is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with...
WA
94
VM
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $33.84 $36.40
12 bottles: $33.82
Ripe red berries are laced with hints of schist from the soil, expanding through a soft finish of well-integrated...
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $132.00
Deep nose of preserved and candied lemons with bread dough and toasted baguette. Concentrated and well structured,...
12 FREE
JS
95
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $47.52
12 bottles: $46.57
From the village of Les Riceys in the Aube, the Fontaines specialize in Pinot Noir blends. This Champagne is made...
12 FREE
WE
92

Champagne Blend Gamay 1999 France

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.

The French wines of Beaujolais are widely regarded as some of the finest table wines in the world. This is due in part to the qualities of the Gamay grape, from which they are made. Gamay produces beautifully, juicy, rounded and gulpable red wines, usually drank young and full of their natural fruit character. However, it would be a mistake to say that Gamay is limited to easy-drinking, soft wines - it’s a highly flexible and versatile grape, capable of producing aged wines of serious complexity and structure, full of expression and fascinating characteristics.


The majority of Gamay wines from France are labeled under Beaujolais Villages or Beaujolais, and these are the standard table wines we’re used to seeing in French restaurants, at bistros, and at our local wine store. Usually great value for money, these are the light, slightly acidic examples of what the grape can do. Far more interesting are those Gamay wines from the 10 cru villages, just north of Beaujolais, where generations of expertise and a unique soil type made up of granitic schist result in far more unique, complicated wines. The best examples of Gamay feature intense aromatics, all black fruit and forest fare, and are worth cellaring for a few years.

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.