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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $92.80
6 bottles: $92.00
Pronounced chalky and floral nose. Palate is tight and linear with some verbena and mandarin. Impressive salinity on...
12 FREE
DC
93
WA
93
Sparkling
12 FREE
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $113.40
12 bottles: $111.13
Tasted single blind against its peers. This has a very well -defined nose of dried pineapple, quince and vanilla pod...
12 FREE
WA
93
VM
93
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $49.90
12 bottles: $48.90
12 FREE
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $287.73 $319.70
This isn't sweet, but just so wonderfully rich. It's the concentration of botrytis that makes the wine. The texture...
12 FREE
WE
97
WS
97
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $427.95 $475.50
This isn't sweet, but just so wonderfully rich. It's the concentration of botrytis that makes the wine. The texture...
12 FREE
WE
97
WS
97
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $414.18 $460.20
Barrel sample. Impressively balanced, with the fruit rich, intense with a golden glow. The acidity is as important as...
12 FREE
WE
98
WA
95
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $49.01
12 bottles: $48.02
Tasted single blind against its peers. Whereas last year the de Fargues 2008 was immediately forthcoming, a few...
12 FREE
WA
95
WS
93
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $58.95 $65.20
#4 Top100, 2008. Delivers lots of botrytis spice, with lemon tart and cooked apple. Full-bodied, with loads of cream...
12 FREE
WS
97
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $35.20
12 bottles: $34.50
Tasted as part of a vertical held at the chateau. It is clear that the aromatics on the 2008 are a little simpler and...
12 FREE
WA
93
WS
92
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $150.55 $167.28
Very flinty, with straw and dried goat’s-cheese character to the dried apples, honeycomb and some bread dough....
12 FREE
JS
95
DC
93
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $96.00
12 bottles: $91.20
A very rich Blanc de Blancs champagne that doesn’t taste bone-dry, thanks to the stunning harmony. Tons of dried...
12 FREE
JS
96
JD
94
Sale
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...
12 FREE
JS
97
DC
92
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $76.26
6 bottles: $74.73
12 FREE
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $48.56
A fine, supple red, sporting velvety tannins, racy raspberry, cherry and plum fruit, joined by layers of spice, hot...
WE
92
WS
92
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $169.37
This vintage Blanc de Blancs completes what is now a full range produced for all the Rothschild family-owned...
WE
94
JS
92
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $396.95
Lovely precision and drive to this with aromas of lemon curd, brioche, praline, apricots, pomelos, mandarin zest and...
JS
97
WA
96
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $181.22
Lovely precision and drive to this with aromas of lemon curd, brioche, praline, apricots, pomelos, mandarin zest and...
JS
97
WA
96
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $454.67
A fragrant, appealing Champagne, with wafts of elderflower and medicinal herbs on the nose, followed by expressive...
WS
95
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $539.92
A superb vintage of this renowned prestige cuvée, this is made from a base of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, to...
DC
98
WA
97

Carignan Champagne Blend Semillon/sauvignon Blanc 2005 2008

Carignan is an ancient blue-skinned grape varietal, thought to be indigenous to the Aragon region of Spain. However, today it is most commonly associated with the fine wines of southern France, and has been grown in many countries around the world which have the warm and dry conditions it requires to thrive. Carignan is recognized as being quite a sensitive vine, highly susceptible to all kinds of rot and mildew, although producing excellent results when given the right conditions and handled correctly. Its high tannin levels and acidity make the Carignan grapes very astringent, and as such, they are often used as a blending grape to give body to other, lesser bodied varietals. Despite this, with careful treatment, Carignan can produce superb single varietal wines packed full of character and unique attributes.

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.