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Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.08
12 bottles: $17.72
COLOR: Wine of very elegant red color. BOUQUET: Intense aroma, with fruity hints of ripe plums, cherry jam and notes...
Sparkling
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $15.83 $17.59
12 bottles: $12.35
Perfect for an afternoon picnic, an evening of sunset gazing, a night of binge watching your favorite series or any...
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $16.71 $17.59
12 bottles: $12.35
This fun & light sparkling Unicorn Bubbles offers delicate flavors of fresh green apple and citrus with lively...
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $14.62 $16.25
12 bottles: $12.35
19 Crimes is defiant by nature, bold in character, and always uncompromising. We are proud to partner with...
Sale
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $9.53 $10.25
Aromas of fresh peaches leap from the glass along with hints of ginger and lilac. Once sipped, a shower of foamy...
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $9.99
Vivacious and aromatic, this delicate Italian pale pink sparkler Is perfect for enjoying anytime. Notes of...
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $67.50
The 2019 Gracias Madre, 100% Grenache Noir, is fabulous. Rich, creamy and super-expressive, the 2019 offers notable...
12 FREE
VM
94
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $79.92
12 bottles: $78.32
The NV Brut Le Caractère M is 95% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Noir based on 2013, with a perpetual reserve dating back...
12 FREE
VM
94
WS
91
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $42.90 $46.00
The NV Brut Le Brut is another absolutely compelling wine in this range. Le Brut is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot...
VM
93
BH
91
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.93 $52.00
12 bottles: $49.40
The NV Brut Rosé is positively stellar. The blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir (including 5% still Pinot)...
12 FREE
VM
93
WS
92
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.93 $54.00
Light, green-tinged yellow. Lively aromas of mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruits are complicated by suave...
12 FREE
VM
92
WA
91
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $84.93
12 bottles: $83.23
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $43.93
12 bottles: $41.80
The NV Cuvée Le Demi-Sec is a very pretty, attractive Champagne. Even with 32 grams of residual sugar, the Demi-Sec...
12 FREE
VM
91
W&S
90
Sale
Sparkling
12 FREE
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $17.28
Color and Appearance: Brilliant, straw yellow, fine and persistent perlage. Bouquet: Elegantly fruity with hints of...
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $17.28
Color and Appearance: Brilliant, straw yellow, fine and persistent perlage. Bouquet: Elegantly fruity with hints of...
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $17.28
Color and Appearance: Brilliant, straw yellow, fine and persistent perlage. Bouquet: Elegantly fruity with hints of...
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $12.40 $13.78
12 bottles: $12.35
COLOR: Powdery pink. NOSE: Sparkling wine with pink “powder” color. It displays soft notes of red fruit to the...
Sale
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $16.90 $17.50
12 bottles: $16.63
Luminous straw-green. Honey, white flowers, crushed rocks and lemon oil all come alive in this nicely chiseled,...
VM
91

Champagne Blend Melon de Bourgogne Primitivo 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.

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.

As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.


Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.