Do we ship to you?.
750ml
Bottle:
$633.15
$703.50
Exotically perfumed, with ripe, lushly textured fruit. A complete and showy example of great, polished modern claret...
750ml
Bottle:
$384.48
$427.20
Effectively half-and-half Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this is a tremendous wine. With very fine tannins, spice from a...
750ml
Bottle:
$450.99
$501.10
A total blockbuster is the 2015 Angelus and it’s reminiscent of a slightly more elegant 2009. Made from 62% Merlot...
750ml
Bottle:
$422.28
$469.20
#37 Top 100 Cellar Selection 2019. This is a rich, perfumed wine, with dense tannins and intense layers of black plum...
750ml
Bottle:
$406.95
$445.50
I loved the 2018 Château Angélus from barrel last year and it blew me away from bottle, epitomizing the new,...
750ml
Bottle:
$462.60
$514.00
Beautifully expressive nose, really so welcoming with hints of sweet red cherries, raspberries, milk chocolate and...
750ml
Bottle:
$437.58
$486.20
The 2020 Angélus has an opaque purple-black color, pulling you in with a captivating perfume of kirsch, Black Forest...
750ml
Bottle:
$1836.18
$2040.20
The 2005 Ausone is magnificent. A wine of soaring intensity and class, the 2005 dazzles from the very first taste....
750ml
Bottle:
$1135.08
$1261.20
An utterly perfect wine from Alain Vauthier, the 2015 Château Ausone offers off the hook notes of crème de cassis,...
750ml
Bottle:
$1011.15
$1123.50
The incredible succulent power in Ausone puts a different perspective on other wines, as it so often does. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$1005.48
$1117.20
#73 TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2022. Like a bouquet of fresh flowers on the nose, as well as blackberries, raspberries...
750ml
Bottle:
$865.08
$961.20
The flowers in the nose are spectacular with violets, lavender, and honeysuckle. Then there’s wet stone and freshly...
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$59.94
The 2005 Château Barde-Haut showed beautifully and was one of the gems in the lineup. Offers loads of ripe dark...
750ml
Bottle:
$55.88
$57.20
12 bottles:
$54.76
Even better than the 2009, the 2010 Château Barde-Haut offers the same sexy, extroverted style yet has slightly more...
750ml
Bottle:
$41.88
12 bottles:
$37.98
Readers will find a rich, flamboyant wine in the 2016 Barde-Haut. There is not a ton of subtlety here, but I am not...
750ml
Bottle:
$51.30
12 bottles:
$47.60
Showing brilliantly, the 2018 Château Barde-Haut comes from a beautiful, cooler terroir on the eastern side of...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.60
$44.00
Attractive black-fruit and berry character with some chocolate and toasted-hazelnut undertones. It’s full-bodied...
Cognac White Rhone Blends Mencia Red Bordeaux
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.
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.
There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.