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White
750ml
Bottle: $48.94
12 bottles: $47.96
This estate, owned by the same family since 1787, has amazing stocks of old sweet wines maturing in its cellars. With...
12 FREE
WE
95
WA
90
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $466.44
I have drunk this a half dozen times in the last six months and it always amazes me. The Recently Disgorged Bolly is...
WE
97
JS
97
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $494.80
Even richer than the brilliant 1990, the 1996 is still tightly wound, but reveals tremendous aromatic intensity,...
WA
98
BH
97
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $669.33
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $613.28
This shows amazing freshness and depth of fruit while remaining agile and very clean. Full body, dense and layered on...
JS
100
WE
99
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $1341.45
The 1996 Dom Pérignon P2 is another absolutely stellar Champagne. When it was first release, the 1996 was painfully...
VM
97
WA
95
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $226.86
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $893.39
A sculpted Champagne, with a steely backbone of acidity swathed in a fine and silky texture, offering rich flavors of...
WS
97
JD
96
Sale
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Sparkling
1.5Ltr - 1 Bottle
Bottle: $582.02 $619.17
The 1996 Brut Cuvee des Enchanteleurs is one of the softer, more forward 1996s readers are likely to come across....
WA
92
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $669.33
It's hard to imagine how a wine of this power can sustain perfect balance What is now a more nonchalant intensity in...
W&S
100
WS
99
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
1.5Ltr - 1 Bottle
Bottle: $730.76
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $48.94
This estate, owned by the same family since 1787, has amazing stocks of old sweet wines maturing in its cellars. With...
WE
95
WA
90
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $893.39
THE EYE: A pale, translucent gold, with radiant clarity and subtle glints of apple green. THE NOSE: Fresh and...
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $1714.02
Rated 99 - Maturing into a medium golden color, the 1996 Salon reveals open-knit, alluring scents of butterscotch,...
WA
99
WNR
99
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $328.95
To the eye, La Grande Dame 1996 presents a color with bright, golden glints. The initial nose reveals a strong,...

Blaterle Champagne Blend Chenin Blanc Friulano 1996

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.

Originating in France yet now grown in many parts of the New World, Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile and highly regarded white wine grape varietals on earth. These green skinned grapes hold a relatively high acid content, and as such can be used for making still white wines of exceptional quality, as well as superb sparkling wines (such as the Crémant wines of the Loire Valley) and extremely aromatic dessert wines. Their natural transparency means that they are a fine grape for expressing their terroir in the bottle, and winemakers often experiment with this varietal to coax unusual and intense flavors from the grapes, such as allowing the development of noble rot on the fruit in order to make sweet and viscous wines of a unique character.