Taittinger Brut Reserve
$98.99
There's nothing like Champagne to turn an average day into something special. This terrific non-vintage dry Champagne received 90 points from both Robert Parker and Wine Spectator. "Bold fizz. Fresh, vivid and flavorful, offering pencil shavings, peach, citrus and ginger notes on a racy, elegant frame. Really alive and the finish lingers on and on," says Wine Spectator.
Delamotte Champagne
$209.99
90 points from Wine Spectator! The review: "This creamy Champagne is light-bodied and subtle, blending pastry, baked apple and smoke flavours with just a touch of butterscotch candy in a well-meshed package. Smoke and graphite notes linger on the juicy finish. Drink now." Delamotte is the sister wine to the legendary Salon, which is not produced every vintage.
Dumangin Blanc de Blancs
$94.99
A grower-producer in the heart of Chigny-les-Rose, Giles Dumangin has champagne coursing through his veins. Dating back to the 1650s, the Dumangins have always worked with the vines of Champagne, but it wasn't until 1890 when Hippolyte Dumangin created Champagne Dumangin in the 1er Cru vineyards of Chigny-les-Roses. Five generations later, Champagne Dumangin is producing an array of champagnes, from their classic, feminine style to their newer, high-end cuvees.
One of only two Blanc de Blancs produced at Champagne Dumangin, this vintage champagne is simply delicious! . Enjoy as an aperitif, or with oysters or lobster.
Charles Dufour Bistrotage Champagne
$131.99
Based in Landreville in the Aube, Champagne vigneron Charles Dufour began his career in 2006 with a more conventional approach to Champagne, but not long after made the switch to organic viticulture (conversion of his six hectares was completed in 2010). Dufour’s are Champagnes of authenticity, reflecting, along with many other sensitive vignerons in his young cohort, the potential of the terroir of the Côte des Bars. Dufour only ever employs spontaneous ferments for vin clairs, and the wines are free of added sulfur. He’s also taken an interest in employing Pinot Blanc in his cuvées, with this variety figuring strongly in the domaine’s Bulles de Comptoir bottling. All primary ferments are conducted in old tanks and burgundy pièces with native yeast, no so2, and full malolactic completed. Dosage is very low; liqueur de tirage is a blend of Dufour’s own wine and cane sugar; the yeasts used in the secondary fermentation are derived from his own vineyards. None of his wines are ever fined or filtered.
Dufour has also expanded his Champagne range in recent years by making new wines from vineyards of his mother Françoise Martinot’s side of the family in a nearby village.
Delamotte Blanc de Blanc
$143.99
Founded in 1760 in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, a grand cru village located in la Côte des Blancs, Champagne Delamotte works this enchanting terroir to grow chardonnay, the dominant white grape variety used to make Champagne. Well-reputed among sommeliers and wine enthusiasts, their champagnes are known for their consistency, delicacy and exceptional character. For over 260 years, we have been developing four different cuvées, a small range that gives amateurs and experts alike a clear understanding of the art of champagne. Our Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Blancs vintage, Brut and Rosé are quintessential Champagne wines. Their top luxury wine is Salon, very expensive and hard to find, but it's worth knowing that in the years when they don't make Salon (exceptional vintages only) those grapes get declassified into the Delamotte label at a fraction of the price.
Georges Laval Les Chenes Champagne
$437.99
This tiny, impeccably-run estate in Cumières is known only to a select few connoisseurs of Champagne. You could drive through the village a hundred times without knowing it was there, and in fact, aside from a well-worn, barely legible placard with the words “Champagne Georges Laval” written in about three millimeter-high script just above the doorbell, there is no marking whatsoever to indicate its presence. Behind these simple, unassuming wooden doors, however, lies one of Champagne’s greatest treasures. Over four generations, Georges Laval began producing estate-bottled champagne in 1971. His son Vincent joined the estate after finishing his studies in 1991, and has been in charge of the cellars since 1996. Laval’s vineyard holdings comprise just 2.5 hectares, with two hectares all in the premier cru village of Cumières, spread over seven parcels. Average vine age is over 30 years, and the oldest vines of the estate are over 70 years of age. Rare and remarkable
Blue Mountain Brut Rose
$52.99
Blue Mountain is the wild and respected territory of which the Mavety family are blessed to be the guardians. As a family business with a strong connection to the South Okanagan site, the goal of Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars is to realize the potential of the individual sites of the land in which the grapes are grown. Overlooking and tending, the Mavety’s life work is an ongoing process of creating something simple yet powerful, to be expressed in the glass and enjoyed. The philosophy of Blue Mountain is to focus on the potential of each variety, continually improving its range across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, and Traditionnelle Methode sparkling wine.
Blue Mountain’s strong focus on viticulture across the site allows for an increased representation of individual terroir when the grapes reach the winery.
Gualtieri Lambrusco
$27.99
Gualtieri's Il Ligabue Lambrusco is named for Ligabue — the beloved Emilian painter and outsider artist whose vivid, instinctive work captures the same earthy, exuberant spirit that defines Lambrusco itself. Made from Lambrusco Salamino grapes in Emilia-Romagna, this is the real Lambrusco: not the sweet, mass-produced version that defined the category for decades, but a dry, lively, deeply flavourful sparkling red that belongs on the table with food.
Henry Pelham Ice Wine
$77.99
In the late 18th century, the current owner's great-great-great grandfather was deeded the land on which their Ontario winery sits in present day St. Catharines. Fast forward six generations and they're still on the family farm in the Short Hills Bench sub-appellation of the Niagara Peninsula. The Short Hills Bench, where they are situated, is the most easterly of the sub-appellations located within the Niagara Escarpment. It encompasses the land rising up from the plain of the peninsula south of Regional Road 81 to the Escarpment Brow and situated between Twelve Mile Creek and Fifteen Mile Creek.