Bollinger’s prestige cuvée is the vintage-dated La Grande Année, made of roughly two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay. It is produced only when the harvest reaches a perfect balance. This wine ferments entirely in oak barrels, and undergoes its second fermentation under cork instead of crown capsule. It’s filled with aromas of honey, gingerbread and cinnamon, and offers a core of pastry and candied orange flavors on the palate.

In 1976, Bollinger Vintage became Grande Année; then, in 1997, “La” Grande Année, a name simple enough to illustrate its exceptional status.  This prestige cuvée made its silver screen debut two years later, in James Bond’s Casino Royale.

The 2005 season delivered a higher than average annual temperature, with a dry and sunny September that promised a high-quality harvest. 

A small revolution in the world of Champagne. In 1967, Bollinger releases R.D. 1952.  There is no comparable Champagne on the market at the time. This bold and brilliant Champagne takes the pillars of what makes Champagne Bollinger so unique, and pushes them to their ultimate level. It is, very simply, a masterpiece.

The majority of Champagne Houses have always kept a collection of old wines in order to share with their family, close friends and special guests. The custom was that these old wines were especially disgorged only a very short time before being tasted, so that those invited could share a perfect moment when the wine, disgorged just recently, would offer an extraordinary freshness and sumptuous aromatic expression. This is the boldness of both R.D. and Madame Bollinger who, realizing the greatness of these wines, was the first to want to commercialize them in order to offer the entire world the chance to experience this tasting moment, considered at the time as “the ultimate in French Champagne.” At Bollinger, this exceptional cuvée would be called R.D. for “Recently Disgorged,” and its labels would be the first in history to bear a disgorgement date. 

Since 1952, a portion of La Grande Année has been kept in the cellars and disgorged at a later date, after much longer time (about 8-20 years) on the lees. It is released as Extra Brut, with only 3-4 grams of residual sugar per liter. It is bold and powerful but well-balanced, revealing a beautifully aromatic potential and an extraordinary brilliance. 

From a wine of utter charm, La Fleur-Petrus has through the developments of the last 20 years become a wine of profound depth and complexity, all the while retaining its irresistible, seductive edge. You could even call it the archetype of  Pomerol.

Today the estate is composed 90% of Merlot with an average vine age of 30 years and 10% of Cabernet Franc with an average vine age of 50 years. Christian Moueix’ obsessive work in the vineyard focuses on sap flow and the treatment of each vine individually. In the cellar, vinifications are extremely precise but quite traditional.

What a story. Etienne Guigal, working in the cellars of a local winery, is swimming in the Rhone river off the docks near the Chateau d’Ampuis. He meets a lovely girl, who works as a maid at the Chateau d’Ampuis, a historic property whose oldest sections date to the 11th century, where Kings of France have visited and slept, and symbol of the town of Ampuis and the world-renowned Côte-Rôtie vineyard area for ten centuries. In 1995, 7 years after Etienne passed away, his son Marcel Guigal purchased the Chateau, and spent 11 years restoring it, with over 100 people working on the project, all overseen by France’s Chief Architect of Historic Monuments. 

Early on, when the Guigal family learned that there was at one time a wine produced with the Chateau d’Ampuis name, and they were able to trace the vineyards that were used in this original wine, they decided to produce an exceptional wine that would showcase the best that Côte-Rôtie has to offer.

Almost from when it was first introduced In 2010, Noval BLACK Reserve has helped generate interest in the use of port in cocktails, hearkening to the history of port’s use on the back bar a century ago, and with its complexity and balance adding a dynamic new element in today’s cocktail utopia.

Noval BLACK Reserve was created to celebrate a decade after the near total rehabilitation of the historic Noval vineyard, arguably the Douro Valley’s greatest.  The major replantings emphasizing only the best traditional grape varieties, the move of the cellar to the vineyard rather than Vila Nova de Gaia several hours away for total control, and several other factors meant that the fruit being grown at Noval had reached a historic high.

Noval BLACK Reserve is a clear expression of the Noval style, no ageing and no decanting necessary. No complications, just a great glass of Port.

The style of Noval BLACK Reserve is entirely about emphasizing the quality of this fruit, through use of estate fruit, gentle handling (including foot treading), and vinification aiming for transparency.  You could say it is the most wine-like of ruby reserve ports, and that is the secret to its flexibility, in cocktails, chilled, and even on ice.

Noval BLACK Reserve is a revolutionary style of ruby port. The bright aromatics, incredible freshness and perfect balance bring it outside the stodgy “vintage-character” category. Enjoy it any time: Chilled. Before dinner. After. For a seductive edge to cocktails. As an indulgence with chocolate. The custom-designed bottle is distinctive, modern yet timeless, reflecting the uniqueness of Noval BLACK Reserve.

Noval 20 year old Tawny is a blend of old Ports from different vintages that have matured in oak casks, with an average age of 20 years. Irresistible freshness with all the complexity of age. Harmonious and balanced, fine, elegant and long, with all the aromatic complexity typical of Noval Tawny Ports.

A few important points to make up front that set Noval apart: the wine is 100% estate, and 100% trodden by foot. There are other critical points to making the Noval 20 Year Old so exceptional, but the fact the fruit is of the highest possible quality and handled so gently is at the very core.

Brut Majeur is the epitome of a non-vintage brut from a great, historic House and is the finest ambassador for the House’s freshness and elegance. It has the highest proportion of Chardonnay of all the traditional Champagne houses.

Brut Majeur is a blend of Chardonnay (55%), Pinot Noir (30%) and Pinot Meunier (15%). A blend of 70 crus, micro-vinification in 120 small stainless steel vats. 43% of reserve wines. Low dosage of 6 g/l.

Condrieu is one of the most exotic and distinctive wines in the world, with its intense aromatics and flavors of apricots, white peach and citrus, and its luscious, almost umami body. It happens to come from a dramatically steep area, and one so small that were it not for several influential people, Marcel Guigal among them, the appellation and its Viognier grape would have been swallowed by history.

Crozes-Hermitage brings you into the Northern Rhône Valley, where the red wines have a profile unlike anywhere else in the world, an irresistible combination of warm flavors of red and black fruit, exotic spice notes, and certainly in the case of Crozes, with pleasure and approachability in youth.

It’s important to note that most of Crozes-Hermitage is produced from the plains to the south and east of Hermitage, and these wines tend to be straightforward. Guigal’s approach is to make a more serious Crozes that also has vigor, intensity and depth. In Guigal’s hands, Crozes becomes a wine that delivers quality and pleasure far beyond its price.

Marcel Guigal is the single person most responsible for bringing this historically great wine region to prominence. The Northern Rhône Valley is the cradle of wine civilization in France, with vineyards planted today on the same spot where they were planted 2,500 years ago by Romans, and it offers a completely unique profile of wines that are so expressive and bring so much pleasure, yet satisfy the most intellectually thirsty drinker. To put it simply, Marcel Guigal transformed Côte-Rôtie, the world’s perception and love for the wines, and now with his son he has not stopped leading his obsessive attention to detail and quality.

Just as the spice traders of old, we risk all in search of exotic flavors. We join you in the hunt for those elusive spices that fascinate our palates and capture our imaginations. Wine should be an adventure. Start your adventure now with this smooth easy drinking Shiraz Cabernet blend.

Messorio, a Merlot monovarietal, is the winery’s crown jewel. Its initial vintage was 1994, and since then it has received extraordinary acclaim, including a 100-point score from the Wine Spectator for the 2004 vintage. The name Messorio refers to the ancient Tuscan practice of wheat harvesting, the most important time of the year in the Bolgheri countryside – once it referred to wheat; these days, it is all about grape harvesting.

Heartland Shiraz is an elegant and pure expression of one of Australia’s most iconic varieties. The Langhorne creek climate and the sandy loam soils make for a Shiraz that is savory, rich and yet balanced and restrained.

Langhorne Creek is one of Australia’s most ideal climates for growing Cabernet Sauvignon and has the oldest recorded Cabernet vines in the world. The freshness brought to the area by the Lake Doctor effect described below means Langhorne is one of the places cool enough in South Australia for Cabernet to achieve structure and display characteristic savory notes.

Heartland’s flagship wine is made from the finest selection of Shiraz from each vintage. Directors’ Cut is the most powerful expression of Langhorne Creek – this soft and generous vintage has allowed the wine to display all its beauty.

Paleo Rosso has been called Italy’s landmark expression of Cabernet Franc. This grape variety is growing internationally as a distinct bottling, but Bolgheri has proven to be the single best place in the world to do so. The Mediterranean climate and surroundings result in a wine of extraordinarily expressive, sensual, and textural fruits and savory spices.

Directors’ Cut is Heartland’s most powerful expression of Langhorne Creek. The weight of fruit in this wine showcases how much Langhorne Creek Ben can fit into one bottle. An almost impenetrable core of fruit is seasoned with dark spice like licorice, nutmeg and anise

The best grapes from the finest vineyards in Langhorne Creek are recruited to create Heartland One. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Shiraz, a long and relatively cool ripening season allowed for full development of the fruit flavors. The wines retain their natural acidity while conveying the full range of fruit flavors and deep colors.

Bolgheri Rosso is a refined, irresistible blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, serving as an introduction to the estate. The wine is, frankly, almost too good at the price. All the intensive artisanal work that Le Macchiole carries out in its vineyards and cellars benefits this wine, and despite more availability than its Paleo Rosso, Messorio and Scrio siblings, it sells out nearly as quickly.

Bolgheri Rossi is also the youngest of Le Macchiole’s wines, first produced in 2004. The objective: to make a Bordeaux blend, but typical of Bolgheri.

Chateau Montelena’s Napa Chardonnay showed that the new world could create classically balanced and complex wines in its own voice, and that from the right sites and with perseverance, the results could equal anything made the world over. Through fads and trends, Montelena has never changed in its philosophy of bringing the sunshine of California in a style that is structured, balanced and age worthy.

In 1976, in what is now memorialized as “The Judgment of Paris”, Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay was the top-ranking wine against four white Burgundies and five other California Chardonnays in a blind tasting with a who’s-who of the french food and wine industry judging. And as they say, the rest is history.