Do we ship to you?.
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$107.00
While this Champagne from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is still young, showing a crisp, bone-dry character alongside tight...
750ml
Bottle:
$118.39
6 bottles:
$117.60
Aromatic pastry dough, creme de cassis, apple blossom and graphite notes are well-meshed in this elegant Champagne....
750ml
Bottle:
$112.08
6 bottles:
$108.00
From grand and premier cru vineyards, this Champagne comes from a good but not great vintage. That explains its...
1.5Ltr
Bottle:
$347.94
3 bottles:
$340.98
750ml
Bottle:
$68.08
12 bottles:
$66.72
It was a must for Pommery not to miss out on one of the greatest vintages of champagne. One single term to...
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle:
$234.35
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$169.95
An elegant rose Champagne that seamlessly knits juicy acidity and fine-grained texture with a subtle, smoke-laced...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$171.95
A vivid Champagne, with a fine mouse acting as a creamy swath around well-honed acidity, which defines this wine and...
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle:
$1777.97
Pre-Arrival
Dom Perignon Champagne Brut 2009
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle:
$506.34
TOP 100 FRENCH WINES OF 2017 #38. This is a DP that shows the ripeness of the 2009 vintage yet remains full of...
Pre-Arrival
Dom Perignon Champagne Brut 2009
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$239.74
TOP 100 FRENCH WINES OF 2017 #38. This is a DP that shows the ripeness of the 2009 vintage yet remains full of...
Pre-Arrival
Dom Perignon Champagne Brut Rose 2009
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$427.61
A lovely rose Champagne that waltzes gracefully across the palate, belying the concentrated range of macerated...
Pre-Arrival
Dom Perignon Champagne Brut Rose 2009
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle:
$372.31
A lovely rose Champagne that waltzes gracefully across the palate, belying the concentrated range of macerated...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$700.74
This bottle of the 2009 Brut Grand Cru Millésime was disgorged in July 2018 after 96 months on the lees, and it's...
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle:
$383.96
The single grape variety of Empreinte de Terroir seeks only to emphasize the characteristics of the vineyard terroir,...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$387.32
The 2009 Brut Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ (magnum) is a deep, powerful Champagne. In magnum, the radiance of the year is...
Champagne Blend Melon de Bourgogne Savatiano 2009
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.
One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.
Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.
Savatiano is probably Greece's most well known and most widely grown grape varietal, as it is the primary grape used in the production of Retsina, where the fermenting juices of the Savatiano varietal are flavored with pine resin in order to make this distinctive and famous wine. One of the reasons for the wide cultivation of this grape is due to its hardiness, and resistance to drought conditions. In the sun-drenched and dry, rocky Greek landscapes, this makes it an ideal vine to grow for wine-makers who require a strong and bounteous yield each year.
However, there are plenty of examples of Greek white wines which use the Savatiano grape but withhold from the addition the pine resin flavoring, allowing the true characteristics of this varietal to shine through. The result is often very pleasing indeed, with Savatiano grapes generally producing extremely well balanced and rounded white wines, with a juicily fruity flavor. Their aromas can vary quite a lot, with many Savatiano wines bearing the fragrance of citrus fruits, and also occasionally having a strong floral aroma reminiscent of elder and rose. Due to the relatively low acidity of Savatiano grapes, the wines which use them (including Retsina) generally bolster themselves with the addition of smaller quantities of more acidic varieties, such as Assyrtiko or Rhoditis, in order to improve their sometimes weak structure.
Additional Information on Greek Wines
Greek Wines
Ancient Greek Wines – A Brief History of Wine in Greece
The Myth of Dionysus, Greek God of Wine
What is Retsina?