Get FREE curbside pickup on any order! Orders are typically taking 1-2 business hours to complete at this time. Please wait for an email confirming that your order is ready before coming to the store.
The Dollar Sale is on now at Premier! For a limited time and on select wines, when you buy one bottle at regular price, get a second identical bottle for just ONE DOLLAR!DOUBLE UP FOR A BUCK!
FREE Shipping to New York State on orders over $200!
Now you can get FREE ground shipping to destinations within New York state on orders over $200! There's no coupon code necessary! This applies to 750ml bottles of wine only.
In the cool climate of northeastern France, winemakers in the Champagne region produce a tasty, bubbly wine we also know as Champagne.
Some of the terms used to describe the sweetness of French Champagne (or other sparkling wines) can be confusing. The most commonly terms are Brut, Extra Dry, and Demi-Sec. Champagne labeled Brut is actually the driest classification and many include even drier examples such as Extra Brut or Brut Nature. Extra Dry despite what many people think, is actually a tad sweeter than Brut. Demi-Sec, rather uncommon in the Champagne region, is a semi-sweet style of French wine.
Champagne can be made with varying percentages of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier grapes, and the production method is called Méthode Champenoise. After the primary fermentation of the grape juice is finished the result is bottled and yeast and some type of sugar are added to create a secondary fermentation in the bottle. It is during the secondary fermentation that these magical bubbles in Champagne occur.
Notable French Champagne houses such as Krug, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Bollinger, Louis Roederer, Tattinger, and Moet & Chandon, that produces the iconic Dom Perignon champagne, have been refining their craft for over 200 years in some cases.
SP9797 pts. - Wine Spectator - Dec 15, 2020 Like a stallion out of the gate, this shows an initial explosion of power, in the form of mouthwatering flavors and fine texture, before quickly settling into an elegant gait. The racy acidity is seamlessly knit, buoying the lacy mousse and flavors of cassis, toasted brioche and tangerine, with accents of candied ginger, hazelnut and fleur de sel lingering on the long, creamy finish. Drink now through 2035. 2,000 cases imported. (Alison Napjus)JD9696 pts. - Jeb Dunnuck - 11/7/2022 The 2008 Champagne Rare is luxurious with aromas of graham cracker, honeysuckle, quince, and orange zest. It is round and opulent, with a fine and pillowy mousse, and retains freshness throughout, with apricot and yellow flowers. It is impressive and long, and fully luxurious. Drinking well now, it is sure to hold its own for years to come. Drink 2022–2044. (Audrey Frick)RP93+93+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 31st Aug 2022 The 2008 Brut Cuvée Rare, now re-baptized as “Rare Champagne,” continues to evolve at a glacial pace. Offering up aromas of citrus oil, freshly baked bread and wet stones, it’s medium to full-bodied, taut and incisive, with a tangy spine of acidity and a pretty pinpoint mousse, but much in the way of texture or amplitude has yet to emerge. While I continue to think that this has the makings of a very attractive bottling, continued patience is advised. (William Kelley)
JS100100 pts. - JamesSuckling.com - Thursday, February 3, 2022 This is very structured and framed with an almost red sensibility. Very phenolic. Full-bodied in a tightly wound ball with so much going on. Very pinot like. Mineral and stone. Shell and stone. Iodine. Vinous. The bubbles just fade into the finish of the wine, which goes on for minutes. Turns to toffee and salted caramel with time in the glass. One for the cellar. Great length. Blend of 53% pinot noir, 25% pinot meunier, 22% chardonnay. Disgorged in beginning of 2020. Drink or hold.SP9999 pts. - Wine Spectator - Nov 15, 2021 There’s a supernova of sensation with each sip of this powerful version, starting with the vivid streak of mouthwatering acidity that drives a rich panoply of ripe black currant, mandarin orange peel and grilled nut flavors, accented by hints of candied ginger, briny oyster shell, verbena and ground cardamom. This burns bright from start to finish, yet its fine integration and lovely, raw silk–like mousse pull it all together into a seamless, vibrant package. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Disgorged autumn 2019. Drink now through 2038. (Alison Napjus)VN9797 pts. - Vinous - Nov 2021 The 2008 Vintage is a nervy, electrifying Champagne, the likes of which has not emerged from Krug’s cellars since the magical l1996. Bright and sculpted, with tremendous precision, the 2008 dazzles from start to finish. Stylistically, the 2008 doesn’t have the toastiness or explosive breadth often found in young Krug, but that in no way detracts from its magnificent beauty. Krug ID: 419044. (Antonio Galloni)WE9797 pts. - Wine Enthusiast - 12/1/2021 A vintage Champagne from this producer is rare. But 2008 was a great year in Champagne and that shows in this intense, still amazingly young wine. Freshness works with the richness to give concentration, density and the sure-fire possibility of long-term aging. So drink now, but the Champagne will last for many years.RP94+94+ pts. - Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate - 23rd Sep 2021 Krug’s 2008 Brut is slated to be released at the end of 2021, but any readers who purchase the wine will need to exercise considerably more patience if they are to enjoy it in its prime, as it is very tightly wound out of the gates. Unwinding in the glass with a youthfully discreet bouquet of clear honey, dried fruit, walnut oil, Meyer lemon and rock salt, it’s medium to full-bodied, deep and incisive, with a racy spine of acidity, a pretty pinpoint mousse and a penetrating, saline finish. The polar stylistic opposite of the rich, demonstrative 2006, the 2008 is a rather understated, taut vintage from Krug that isn’t as liberally endowed with the house’s characteristic toasty patina as its immediate predecessor.WS9494 pts. - Wine & Spirits - 12/21 From a cool, relatively dry year in Champagne, Krug’s 2008 is blended from pinot noir (53 percent), pinot meunier (25 percent) and chardonnay (22 percent). Released in the fall of 2021, the wine is dense and concentrated, still tightly wound. While it shows some savory maturity, the wine’s meaty intensity suggest its evolution has barely begun. Great Krug vintages last for decades, and this one should evolve into a classic.
member store
Piper-Heidsieck Rare
