×
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.58 $14.30
12 bottles: $11.40
Apothic Chardonnay opens with generous notes of crisp red and green apple, layered with hints of honey, caramel and...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.58 $14.30
12 bottles: $11.40
Our Apothic Merlot is a silky, approachable red wine grown in California. Notes of blackberry and boysenberry are...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $61.70 $62.80
Forward with punchy reduction on opening, the 2019 Chardonnay Willamette Valley pours a bright medium straw color and...
12 FREE
JD
95
WE
94
White
750ml
Bottle: $33.95
The 2021 Chardonnay SOLdeSOL, from Malleco, Traiguén, was fermented in one-tenth new barrels. Intense yellow in hue....
12 FREE
VM
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.11 $12.75
12 bottles: $10.69
White
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $21.80
6 bottles: $18.34
White
750ml
Bottle: $44.89
6 bottles: $43.99
Sleek yet richly styled, with generous flavors of pear, orange blossom and lemon that glide on a dynamic finish....
12 FREE
WS
92
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.89 $19.99
Blended between our 4 vineyard sites, Argyle Chardonnay displays the tension of the Eola-Amity Hills, the delicacy of...
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $6.00
Bright gold yellow with straw yellow tints. Very elegant with a quintessence of pineapple, hazelnuts and...
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.63
12 bottles: $15.32
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.94
12 bottles: $21.50
All fruit was hand harvested in the cool of dawn, immediately destemmed and pressed and the juice settled in...
WS
90
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $6.94
These fun, fresh and incredibly enjoyable wines are true to varietal character and can be enjoyed on their own or...
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.89
12 bottles: $26.35
Abundant fruit with a slight tropical note backed by judicious oak. The fuller viscosity that is a signature of this...
White
750ml
Bottle: $49.70
Lovely aromas of apricot, lavender and caramel ebb into bright flavors of lemon/lime, and a fresh, lengthy finish has...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $35.90
12 bottles: $35.18
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $42.53
6 bottles: $41.68
COLOR: Medium Gold. NOSE: Pronounced pear and golden yellow apple lined with a floral note of jasmine, apricot, and...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $15.13 $15.93
12 bottles: $10.46
Flavors of white peach, apple, and lemon. Notes of almonds and vanilla, hints of oak. Serve with grilled prawns over...
Case only
Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $18.42
This 100% varietal wine is a beautiful dark ruby red color with violet hues. This smooth wine has nice pleasant...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $44.72
6 bottles: $44.00
Intense, deep red in colour, Desiderio 2019 reveals inviting notes of sweet cherries and raspberries, rose petals and...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.89 $28.40
12 bottles: $27.33
Stylish and elegant, there's juicy peach, citrus and melon flavors with accents of lemon blossom, a crushed rock...
WS
91

Chardonnay Merlot Red Bordeaux Wine

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.

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.

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.