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Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.93
12 bottles: $13.65
Our Castle Rock Merlot is produced from grapes grown on hillside vineyards in Washington State’s prestigious...
Sale
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $28.84 $30.36
6 bottles: $19.20
With its ruby red color and round notes of plum, red cherry and a hint of chocolate, it’s a varietal that thrives...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.11 $15.91
12 bottles: $11.52
With its ruby red color and round notes of plum, red cherry and a hint of chocolate, it’s a varietal that thrives...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $31.75 $35.28
12 bottles: $25.08
Dark and red berry fruit, cardamon spice, fennel and generous vanilla. Black tea, ripe raspberry and cherry, very...
DC
91
WE
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.51 $18.43
12 bottles: $12.36
Primary red and black berry fruit on the nose. Medium-bodied but very ripe, with bright acidity and a long, spicy...
DC
88
Sale
Red
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.94
12 bottles: $13.66
Simply delicious Melon de Bourgogne! Just the right amount of acidity and final dryness to keep it well balanced....
Sale
Spirits
375ml
Bottle: $34.37 $36.18
12 bottles: $29.81
D’Usse was developed as a brand and is a bit cagey about age and appellation. It’s curiously dark amber for a...
VM
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $11.94 $13.43
12 bottles: $11.52
Chateau de la Chesnaie is a family owned estate dedicated to the production of high quality Muscadet. This wine is...
Case only
White
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.94 $15.17
12 bottles: $13.18
In 2015, chateau owner Bertrand Gourdou was searching through an old desk when he came across a label that his...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.94 $14.30
12 bottles: $12.35
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 30-year-old Muscadet vines planted on a gentle slope of sandy/silty soils overlaid on a...
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.94
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.41
12 bottles: $15.10
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.70
12 bottles: $11.47
This 100% Merlot from Bordeaux combines charm and roundness, offering a nose with a complex bouquet, with red and...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.94 $15.17
12 bottles: $13.66
Lots of blackberry and tar character with medium body, firm tannins and a tangy finish. Drink after 2023.
JS
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.28
12 bottles: $16.93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $35.94
12 bottles: $35.22
• Practicing organic. • 100% Merlot. • A 3 ha parcel on the plateau of Canon Fronsac. • Limestone and clay...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $57.90
12 bottles: $51.87
The 2019 Château Lafleur-Gazin showed nicely, with an elegant, seamless, classy style as well as textbook Pomerol...
12 FREE
JD
91
WA
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $49.80
12 bottles: $48.80
I continue to just love this château, which is located in one of the cooler terroirs in the appellation, sitting on...
12 FREE
JD
95
WA
94

Cognac Ice Wine Melon de Bourgogne Merlot

For over three hundred years, Cognac has enjoyed its reputation as the king of brandies. Indeed, it is widely regarded as the finest drink to be distilled from grapes to be found anywhere in the world, and it is a testament to its producers and the master craftsmen who make it that this reputation has never faltered, and remains as strong as ever to this day.

Cognac is produced solely in the beautiful towns of Cognac and Jarnac, found about fifty miles north of Bordeaux, on the west coast of France. Here, around six thousand grape growers work exclusively in the production of white wine, used for the Cognac distilleries which are scattered throughout the region. The wines are made primarily from the Ugni Blanc or Trebbiano grape - one of the most commonly planted grape varietals in the world - which benefit from the cool, coastal climate and mineral rich soils which are found there. The wines themselves wouldn’t be suitable for drinking in themselves, as they are high in acid and low in alcohol, but this makes them ideal for distillation, and they can impart their wonderful, complex, rich flavors to the brandy.

Cognac varies quite significantly from bottle to bottle, depending on how long it has been aged for, and which appellation it comes from. The Cognac region is split into six separate Crus, all with their own distinctive characteristics, and the spirit can be aged from two years (VS) to six (Hors d’Age and Napoleon) and longer.

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.

With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.