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Sparkling
12 FREE
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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $109.94 $114.80
Features flavors of creme de cassis, lemon curd, poached apricot and smoked almond framed by well-cut, crunchy...
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WS
93
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $174.05 $183.60
Discreet and nuanced nose, showing lemon-curd, brioche and pie-crust notes. A hint of savory umami, too. Beautiful...
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JS
96
DC
94
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $249.94
A driven and serious DP with aromas of chalk, biscuits, apricot stones and lemons. Some spice and dried flowers, too....
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JS
98
WS
96
Sparkling
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $91.94
6 bottles: $90.10
The Carneros Cuvée is our Tête de Cuvée. It represents the best fruit from our 335 acre estate as well as our...
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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $79.89
12 bottles: $78.29
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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $99.93
12 bottles: $97.93
A toasty Champagne, with generous lime blossom, ground coffee, vanilla and oak spice aromatics, this is firm and...
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WS
91
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $261.23
A 100% Brut-Zero Chardonnay, disgorged in April 2023. This has a gorgeous nutty nose with brioche and toasted almond...
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DC
95
WNR
93
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Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $93.73 $100.79
#83 TOP 100 CELLAR SELECTIONS 2021. The effects of a cool year on this new vintage release is impressive in its...
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WE
94
WA
93
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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $110.69 $122.99
Blend of 44% Pinot Noir (14% red wine), 35% Chardonnay, 21% Meunier – 2013 was a difficult season, but after a...
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DC
96
WS
94
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.94
6 bottles: $48.94
Ripe peach on the nose, then nectarine and red fruits balanced by energy and acidity. It's pretty sophisticated,...
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Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $210.87 $234.30
Subtle aromas of cooked apples and minerals with chalk and salt. Brioche, too. Full-bodied with a beautiful center...
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JS
97
WE
94
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $418.00 $464.45
6 bottles: $312.00
This rich rose Champagne is aromatic and minerally on the nose, with smoke and oyster shell notes that transition to...
12 FREE
WS
93
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Sparkling
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $686.85 $723.00
The 2013 Champagne Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill Brut, composed of 95% Pinot Noir, is the 20th release of this cuvée,...
JD
97
WS
95
Sparkling
375ml
Bottle: $37.01
12 bottles: $36.26
The 2013 Brut Cuvée Empreinte is endowed with notable richness and body, yet remains super-elegant and refined....
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VM
93
WS
93
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Rapid Ship
Sparkling
12 FREE
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $160.95
Disgorged in May 2019 with three grams per liter dosage after tirage under natural cork, the 2013 Extra-Brut Blanc de...
WA
95
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $264.12

Champagne Blend Japanese Whiskey Pigato 2013

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.

Whisky might not be the first thing that springs to mind when we think of Japanese fine produce, but over the past one hundred years, this fascinating and multi-faceted country has diligently forged a unique whisky identity which is growing in popularity, and which is entirely its own.

The story of Japanese whisky begins in 1918, when Masataka Taketsuru was sent to Scotland to undertake a tour of single malt distilleries in the Highlands, and bring home a knowledge of whisky and distillation skills. He returned full of inspiration, helped no doubt by his new Scottish wife, and alongside his friend, Shinjiro Torii, set up what would become a successful whisky industry.

Today, the Japanese whisky industry is spread over a relatively small handful of distilleries, which continue to use Scottish techniques and recipes, but with a hefty dose of distinctly Japanese experimentalism. This is displayed most obviously in the barrelling techniques the Japanese use - to create a distinctly Oriental set of tasting notes, native Japanese oakwood casks are used for ageing, alongside casks taken from plum wine producers, which impart a beautiful set of floral flavors to the whisky.

While some distilleries produce some excellent single malts, the majority of Japanese whiskies are blended, which reveals a unique set of flavors and aromas ranging from honeysuckle and orange blossom, to toffee and acetone.