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Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.61
12 bottles: $31.96
Firm tannins are holding everything in place right now. There's a tiny dip through the mid-palate before the fruit...
12 FREE
DC
89
VM
88
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $633.15 $703.50
Exotically perfumed, with ripe, lushly textured fruit. A complete and showy example of great, polished modern claret...
12 FREE
DC
95
WA
94
Sale
Red
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....
12 FREE
WA
100
VM
100
Case only
Red
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...
12 FREE
JD
95
WA
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.94
12 bottles: $23.46
A gorgeous bottle of Bordeaux from a great vintage! This is a "can't miss" for the table or the cellar... Big and...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $218.95 $229.20
12 bottles: $216.60
The Grand Vin, the 2005 Beychevelle is a gorgeous wine, with plenty of crème de cassis, floral notes, underbrush and...
12 FREE
WA
93
WE
93
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $316.20
6 bottles: $312.00
93-95 Barrel sample. This is a smooth, rich wine that's intensely concentrated and packed with great black-currant...
WE
95
JD
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $154.94 $157.20
93-95 Barrel sample. This is a smooth, rich wine that's intensely concentrated and packed with great black-currant...
12 FREE
WE
95
JD
94
Sale
Red
3.0Ltr
Bottle: $618.30 $687.00
The nose is just utterly delicious, smoky and seductive. This is why you don't drink St-Julien in a great vintage too...
DC
95
WE
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $129.78 $144.20
The nose is just utterly delicious, smoky and seductive. This is why you don't drink St-Julien in a great vintage too...
12 FREE
DC
95
WE
95
Red
750ml
Bottle: $78.40
Barrel sample. Full of ripe Cabernet tannins, this is a structured wine that's chunky in character. It elegantly...
12 FREE
WE
95
DC
92
Red
375ml
Bottle: $91.50
The 2005 Brane-Cantenac is fabulous. Effusive and explosive to the core, the 2005 possesses tons of energy and...
12 FREE
VM
94
WE
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $149.58 $166.20
The 2005 Brane-Cantenac is fabulous. Effusive and explosive to the core, the 2005 possesses tons of energy and...
12 FREE
VM
94
WE
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $152.55 $169.50
The 2005 Brane-Cantenac is fabulous. Effusive and explosive to the core, the 2005 possesses tons of energy and...
12 FREE
VM
94
WE
94
Sale
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $396.18 $440.20
Tight and dense still but so integrated and seamless in texture. Aromas of chocolate, hazelnuts, dried spices and...
WA
94
JS
94
Red
3.0Ltr
Bottle: $1139.95
Tight and dense still but so integrated and seamless in texture. Aromas of chocolate, hazelnuts, dried spices and...
WA
94
JS
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $207.18 $230.20
Tight and dense still but so integrated and seamless in texture. Aromas of chocolate, hazelnuts, dried spices and...
12 FREE
WA
94
JS
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $190.98 $212.20
This fragrant, lush, seductive wine offers up plum, Christmas spices and crème de cassis. This dense garnet/purple...
12 FREE
WA
94
WE
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $114.95
12 bottles: $112.65
Tasted from several bottles in recent months, the 2012 Canon is a stupendous wine for the vintage and if anything, it...
12 FREE
WA
94
WE
94
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $134.94
Wow. This really shows wonderful depth and complexity on the nose with blueberries, fresh flowers and hints of...
JS
93
WS
90

Chardonnay Red Bordeaux 2005 2012

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

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.