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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $184.03 $204.48
6 bottles: $175.20
Grilled bread with flowers, pears and apples. Lots of perfumes. Lavender and some herbs and nutmeg. The palate is...
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JS
97
DC
92
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $452.59
A fragrant, appealing Champagne, with wafts of elderflower and medicinal herbs on the nose, followed by expressive...
WS
95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $748.94
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Sparkling
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle: $1579.87 $1680.71
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $143.95
Impressive concentration and power here. This is really assertive with ripe yellow orchard fruits and citrus within a...
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94
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94
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $237.95
A good rest on lees in the cellar through to May 2015 has seen this salmon-colored rosé develop a wealth of dried...
JS
96
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95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $108.95
Pale in color, but rich in texture and fruit, this wonderfully mature rosé is structured from 70% Pinot Noir in the...
WE
96
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94
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Sparkling
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $512.95
I believe that the 2005 DP is the best since 2002, which remains the best recent vintage and is probably only...
JS
97
WE
95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $422.50
A mind-blowing wine. This is super subtle and intense with aromas of peaches, light strawberry and cream. Also shows...
JS
99
WE
95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $420.68
A mind-blowing wine. This is super subtle and intense with aromas of peaches, light strawberry and cream. Also shows...
JS
99
WE
95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $508.95
A mind-blowing wine. This is super subtle and intense with aromas of peaches, light strawberry and cream. Also shows...
JS
99
WE
95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $540.45
This rose Champagne is rich and vinous, offering smoky minerality up front, expanding to show dried raspberry,...
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95
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $788.60
Disgorged in July 2014, Francis Egly's 2005 Brut Grand Cru Millésime is a brilliant wine in this middling vintage,...
WA
94
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92
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $95.99
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $235.30
Rich hints of baked plum and marzipan are enlivened by sleek, well-knit acidity in this harmonious Champagne. The...
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93
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $320.60
Fabulous nose with great blood orange intensity neatly framed by brioche. On the extravagant and concentrated palate...
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99
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97
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White
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $390.28
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $136.95
In 1833, Annonciade, the daughter of a winemaker from Bouzy, married Auguste François Bara, a young cooper from the...
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $176.28
A truly special site, this is a majestic Champagne that has superb darker notes of brulée, roasted almonds and...
JS
95
VM
94
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Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $210.08
Grilled bread with flowers, pears and apples. Lots of perfumes. Lavender and some herbs and nutmeg. The palate is...
JS
97
DC
92

Champagne Blend White Rhone Blends Gruner Veltliner Nero D'avola 2005

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.

Viognier, an exotic, elusive varietal, originally comes from the Northern Rhone Valley of France, and has captured the fascination of the U.S. wine-drinking public. At its finest, it is full-bodied and nearly golden in color, with a haunting bouquet of peaches, apricots and pears, and a floral quality like no other wine in the world. Many vintners are trying their hand at this varietal, spreading from its American beginnings in Napa Valley and Santa Barbara County to wineries as far away as Virginia. Marsanne and Rousanne, two other important varieties from the Rhone Valley are making waves in the U.S., particularly on the Central Coast of California.

Gruner Veltliner is a pale skinned white wine grape varietal most closely associated with central European countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In recent years, it has spread somewhat to several New World countries, where it is becoming gradually more popular and regularly seen in wine stores. One of the main attractions of this grape varietal for winemakers is the fact that it is highly versatile, and can be used for the production of several different wine styles, including young, dry white wines, excellent sparkling wines, and it is also a grape varietal which is well suited for aging Gruner Veltliner has the ability to express much of its terroir, and the best examples are generally those which are full of delightfully mineral-rich flavors alongside the more usual notes of citrus fruits and peach.

Italy’s largest island, Sicily, has a wine producing history that can put most other European regions to shame. It was producing quality wines before the days of the Roman empire, and even the Ancient Greeks were not the first to cultivate vines on the island. For as long as anyone knows, the key grape varietal of Sicily has been Nero d’Avola, the beautiful, deep blue skinned grape which produces the region’s characterful, powerful red wines. While in the past, Nero d’Avola was mainly used as a blending grape, due to its deep color and intensely full body, it is today being increasingly celebrated as a single varietal wine grape, and is perfect for those who like their wines boisterous, loud and strong.



Nero d’Avola is grown pretty much everywhere on Sicily, as demand for wines made from this grape have never been higher. Despite its power and body, it is quite a versatile grape - it can be aged in oak barrels, which produces a dense and dark wine which puts its intense characteristics to good use, but it is also often drunk quite young, which allows its jammy, plummy character to come forward. It is also used to make rose wines in some appellations of Sicily, demonstrating a softer side to this otherwise heavy, deeply flavorful grape.