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750ml
Bottle:
$13.43
12 bottles:
$13.16
Simply delicious Melon de Bourgogne! Just the right amount of acidity and final dryness to keep it well balanced....
750ml
Bottle:
$11.94
$13.43
12 bottles:
$11.52
Chateau de la Chesnaie is a family owned estate dedicated to the production of high quality Muscadet. This wine is...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.94
$15.17
12 bottles:
$13.18
In 2015, chateau owner Bertrand Gourdou was searching through an old desk when he came across a label that his...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.94
$14.30
12 bottles:
$12.35
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 30-year-old Muscadet vines planted on a gentle slope of sandy/silty soils overlaid on a...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.94
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
750ml
Bottle:
$15.41
12 bottles:
$15.10
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
750ml
Bottle:
$11.70
12 bottles:
$11.47
This 100% Merlot from Bordeaux combines charm and roundness, offering a nose with a complex bouquet, with red and...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.94
$15.17
12 bottles:
$13.66
Lots of blackberry and tar character with medium body, firm tannins and a tangy finish. Drink after 2023.
750ml
Bottle:
$35.94
12 bottles:
$35.22
• Practicing organic.
• 100% Merlot.
• A 3 ha parcel on the plateau of Canon Fronsac.
• Limestone and clay...
750ml
Bottle:
$57.90
12 bottles:
$51.87
The 2019 Château Lafleur-Gazin showed nicely, with an elegant, seamless, classy style as well as textbook Pomerol...
750ml
Bottle:
$49.80
12 bottles:
$48.80
I continue to just love this château, which is located in one of the cooler terroirs in the appellation, sitting on...
750ml
Bottle:
$36.94
12 bottles:
$36.20
The 2020 Laroque is even better than the en primeur sample. Dark and enveloping, with tons of class, Laroque is a...
750ml
Bottle:
$31.32
$34.80
93-95 The 2021 Laroque is a standout. Bright and racy, with tremendous persistence, Laroque stakes its claim as...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.30
12 bottles:
$14.01
Deep color, peppery aromas, a fresh first impression, constant presence on the palate and a lively finish. Aromas of...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.17
12 bottles:
$14.87
This classic Merlot based Bordeaux from the Castillon opens with an elegant nose of red currant, blueberry and black...
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$38.93
Another brilliant Pomerol in the vintage, the 2020 Château Montviel has a pure, medium to full-bodied, vibrant...
Melon de Bourgogne Merlot Primitivo
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.
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.
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.