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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: $90.71 $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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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
This rich rose Champagne is aromatic and minerally on the nose, with smoke and oyster shell notes that transition to...
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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: $263.20

Champagne Blend Ice Wine Primitivo 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.

As with many European grape varietals, there is some debate regarding the precise origins of the Primitivo grape. Most people now agree that it probably came from Croatia, where it is still used widely in the production of red wine, and it known as Tribidrag. However, today it is a grape most commonly associated with the powerful red wines of Puglia, the heel of Italy’s boot, where the intense sunshine and brisk Mediterranean breezes produce grapes of remarkable character and balance. Primitivo is a dark grape, known for producing intense, inky, highly tannic wines, most notably the naturally sweet Dolce Naturale and the heavy and complex Primitivo di Manduria wines. Primitivo tends to be naturally very high in both tannin and alcohol, making it ideal for both barrel and cellar ageing, which brings out its more rounded and interesting features.


Primitivo is not the easiest grape to grow or manage, and it has had something of a difficult century. Indeed, by the 1990s, there was little interest in Puglian wines in general, and winemakers were neglecting their Primitivo vineyards and looking to other, more commercially viable varietals. However, the last decade has seen this grape come well and truly back into fashion, with new techniques and a heightened interest in native Italian grape varietals bringing Primitivo back into the spotlight. It is now widely loved for its intensity and ability to be paired with strongly flavored foods.