Bollinger Special Cuvee
$112.99
For anyone who loves James Bond. and good Champagne! "I drink champagne when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I'm thirsty." – Those are the wonderful words of Madam Lilly Bollinger. Bollinger is also the official choice of James Bond. Yes, 007's favourite Champagne! From one of the last remaining family-operated Champagne houses, a truly great sparkling white wine. Champagne doesn't need an occasion, just a glass! A blend of mostly Pinot Noir, with 25% Chardonnay and 15% Meunier.
Taittinger Nocturne
$119.99
This distinctively sweet “sec” Champagne (with 18 g/l residual sugar) is pale yellow in colour with shimmering highlights and bubbles that form a delicate ring of fine foam. On the nose, there are aromas of white flowers, yellow peach and dried apricots. The palate is smooth and creamy yet very crisp and gives way to flavours of raisins and fruit in syrup. This mature, rich and round wine culminates in a long, smooth finish. Nocturne is the perfect accompaniment to fruit desserts or lightly sweet pastry or cakes as well as rich pâtés with toasted brioche.
A blend of more than 35 different crus from a variety of harvests, this wine spends four years on the lees before being disgorged. An 18 g/l dosage of cane sugar combined with the slow cellar ageing creates a round, mellow, smooth Champagne that is perfect to enjoy with a dessert or late in the evening.
Veuve Clicquot Brut
$104.99
Philippe Clicquot founded this great Champagne House in 1772 but it was his son's wife, Madame Clicquot-Ponsardin, who made the Champagne house what it is today. She was widowed young and 'Veuve' means widow in French! Veuve Clicquot Brut is a perfect example of harmony between delicacy and power. Dominated by Pinot Noir, this wine has a firm structure, rounded with a touch of Pinot Meunier. Nearly a third of Chardonnay gives it the elegance and finesse needed for perfect balance. Shy but complex aromas of pear-apple, lemon, mineral and light toast. Veuve Clicquot is very delicate with just a touch of sweetness and a lemony, mineral finish. Terrific length.
Bollinger La Grande Annee
$337.99
The Grande Année blend comes only from a particularly fine harvest. When such a harvest occurs the House selects its best wines, cru by cru and grape variety by grape variety - the key to the particular year. Each wine is individually fermented in oak casks prior to blending. On average, the blend is composed of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay. Best enjoyed now, at any time of the day, with every meal!
Ruinart Rose Brut
$161.99
The history of Ruinart rosé, the very first rosé champagne to make its appearance, dates back to the 18th century. While Ruinart rosé champagne first appeared over 250 years ago, its excellent quality remains the essential feature of the production of this delicate wine to this day. 45% of the chardonnay is from the Côtes des Blancs and Montagne de Reims vineyards. 55% of the pinot noir is from the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne vineyards, 18 to 19% of which has been made into red wine. 20 to 25% coming from reserve wines from the 2 previous years. The nose is subtle and fresh, first offering an original palette of tropical fruits (guava and lychee) and small berries (raspberries, cherries and wild strawberries) in the first instance. On the palate, the attack is distinct and full, cradled by a gentle effervescence. Freshly picked berries are delightfully expressed and the balance brings together a beautiful freshness and voluptuous body, expressed by an elegant bracing touch of mint and pink grapefruit.
Larmandier Rose Champagne
$147.99
Larmandier-Bernier is, according writer Peter Liem, "one of the finest producers in the Côte des Blancs", garnering rave reviews not just from Liem but other top critics like Vinous' Antonio Galloni. The wines are unified stylistically, with chalky cores and delicate, lifted citrus and floral notes that seem drawn in pastel. But there are also strong differences, a testament to the distinct personalities within the Côtes des Blancs.
This is a rare saignee method champagne rose. Intense on the palate and delicate on the nose. This cuvée is produced from the Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grapes picked in Vertus, where the two varieties grow together in the same plot of old vines. It’s made by macerating the berries for a few days, a technique not commonly used in Champagne.
Agrapart 7 Crus Champagne
$136.99
Oh, yeah. A beautiful, beautiful Champagne - and 92 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, too. The review: "Agrapart’s NV Brut Blanc De Blancs 7 Crus E13 – named for the seven Cote des Blancs villages from which it is sourced, and in this instance disgorged in May, 2013 – displays uncommon delicacy, buoyancy, tension and nuance for an “intro-level” cuvee, and that uncannily combined with a sense of richness and purity to its white peach and grapefruit. Almond and pistachio cream lend allure; chalk and salt along with piquancy of peach kernel and toasted pumpkin seed impart interest, invigoration and saliva-inducement to an effusively juicy, succulent and refreshingly sustained finish. Seven grams of residual sugar, incidentally, is fairly high by estate standards but perfectly complements this wine’s forward fruit without engendering any sense of outright sweetness. This exceptional value in Champagne should remain irresistible for at least the next couple of years, and I shall be anxious to experience what happens further down the pike as I revisit the bottles I recently purchased (because older “intro-level” bottles are not usually something that growers – or, for that matter, most self-styled wine collectors – can lay their hands on to pour for you)."
Pierre Peters Cuvee de Reserve
$107.99
Located in the small village of Le Mesnil sur Oger, in the heart of the Cote des Blancs, The Pierre Peters estate has been a family run house since 1919. Growing and adapting to their forever changing vineyards, Pierre Peters produces only Blanc de Blancs, and only works with the grapes harvested from their vineyards. This is their flagship Champagne and is a blend of more than 20 years of harvests and is exclusively composed of Chardonnay from Grand Cru villages in the Côte des Blancs. This wine is graceful and elegant, with notes of lemon, pear, white flower and acacia. The finish is persistent, with white floral notes twisting in with a touch of salinity.
Jacques Lassaigne Clos Sainte Sophie
$234.99
This wine is made from a unique plot in the middle of their vineyards with 40+ year old vines. "This wine is opulence personified. Intense laser-beams of acidity balance out the caramel notes here and the finish goes on and on for millennia. This wine pairs well with long-lived wedding anniversaries and doctoral dissertation completions, or it will make whatever random moment you decide to open one as special as either of those rare events. Extremely limited and unicorn-like."
"Jacques Lassaigne is a 4.7-hectare family vineyard located in Montgueux. The vineyards boast prime southeastern exposure and consist entirely of Chardonnay. The Montgueux vineyard sites were originally held for the Montrachet of Champagne and are located near the gates of Troyes—the former capital of Champagne. This area is technically part of the Aube department, but is much further north than what people typically think of as the Aube, in the Cote des bars which features wines often primarily made from Pinot Meunier. The terroir in Montgueux is nearly identical to the growing sites found further north in le Mesnil, as they share the same limestone vein —this is exceptional terroir for making great champagne. An intense backbone of acidity is often present in these wines, but since it is located further south than the storied Cotes des blancs, ripening is not as much of an issue. The non-vintage Blanc de Blancs is a blend of nine different vineyard sites & two successive vintages."