Bollinger La Grand Année is truly one of the greats of Champagne, a traditionalist house making muscular wine with body, length, depth, and every other dimension. Sourcing nothing other than quality fruit, it consists of 76% Grand Crus and 24% Premiers of Crus with a minimum aging of 5 years. Bollinger La Grande Année is a quite exemplary gift.
Château Trotanoy is one of the oldest and prestigous of any Châteaux on the Bordeaux's right-bank. Trotanoy consists of a tiny 7.5 hectare plot in Pomerol where Merlot is the dominant variety planted. In 2008, Pomerol was the best perfoming of all of the Bordeaux regions and was rated a brilliant 96 by Robert Parker Jr. Wonderfully complex and rich in fruit, this Trotanoy also has a brilliant structure and elegance that will medium-term cellar quite nicely.
Australian Pinot Noir does not get any better than the wines produced by Phillip Jones at the iconic Bass Phillip winery. A Pinot Noir of utmoust power and elegance, the rival to any great Burgundy. Rated in the top classification in Langton's Classification of Australian Wine, Bass Phillip Pinot Noir is riddled with complex flavours of strawberry, violets, rose petal and forest floor. The length of palate is immortal.
Made from fruit grown in ultra close planted vineyards Bass Phillip wines are eerily like Pinots from Burgundy. Fully mature now, the wine has lovely spice and earthy characters ready to be enjoyed now.
Torbrecks flagship wine, The Laird Shiraz is only produced in exceptional years. The fruit comes from one of the finest Shiraz sites in the Barossa valley; the dry grown Gnadenfrei vineyard dating from 1958. Matured for 36 months in special French barriques coopered by Dominique Laurent, the Laird is the ultimate expression of ultra-concentrated single vineyard Barossa Shiraz.
Elegant and aristocratic kaleidoscope of aromas, an abundance of fruit flavours, blackberry, mulberry and blueberry with supporting complexity of mint, eucalypt, rhubarb, Turkish delight and cinnamon. The palate offers a rich tapestry of enjoyment and fulfilment of flavours of raspberry, strawberry and boysenberry to name a few. Made by Jim Barry.
Chateau Angélus is one of the most renowned estates of St-Emilion, currently designated Premier Grand Cru Classé A in the most recent classification of St-Emilion. Located due west of the town of St-Emilion, the estates vineyards lie on a warm south-facing slope. The Grand Vin is a dense and unctuous blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, matured in 85-100% new French oak barriques for 18-22 months. Complex and concentrated, Chateau Angélus can appear slightly austere when young, developing greater generosity and richness with age.
Château d'Yquem is the indisputable worlds greatest sweet wine. This fact was known when the original 1855 classification of Sauternes was released and saw Château d'Yquem given a category all on its own, premier grand cru, which it still holds. Since 1593, only two families have owned the prestigious Château that sits in a commanding, fortress like, position overlooking most of Sauternes. Only highly skilled and permananent workers tend the vineyards that produce fruit of compelling concentration and intensity. The resulting wines can begin to be enjoyed after seven or eight years, but in good years, like the 2000 vintage, the wine can last much, much longer.
Regarded a Super Second (but technically a 3me growth), Palmer is capable of producing wines that equal or even outstrip the quality of its famous Premier cru neighbour, Ch. Margaux. Named for the wealthy English military man who bought the estate in the early 19th century, Palmer is now majority owned by the Mahler Besse and Sichel families - famous Bordeaux negociants. Many of the best plots on the property were purchased after the Classification of 1855, explaining in part why Palmer did not warrant higher standing at that time. Certainly today there is no question that the wine is among Bordeauxs best. The estate also makes a separate second label - named Alter Ego - which is made from similarly high quality fruit but treated differently in the winery with the aim of producing a counterpoint in style to the First wine.
Château Margaux is a 1er Cru Classé (first growth) estate of Bordeaux. The Grand Vin is renowned for its enthralling perfumed elegance, finesse and layered complexity. A Cabernet Sauvignon blend with a minor component of Merlot and a smattering of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, fermentation occurs in oak vats followed by maturation in 100% new barrels for approximately 22 months. Since its acquisition in 1978 by the Mentzelopoulos family, the quality and international reputation of Château Margaux has soared to even greater heights.