Welcome to The Wine Emporium, it's wonderful to have you here. The Wine Emporium is a specialist fine wine store in Fortitude Valley, Queensland Australia. We are here to satisfy the fine wine market both in Brisbane, our base, as well as the rest of Australia.

 We operate hand in hand with many of the smaller, harder to get Australian producers as well as stocking a large range of wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Chilie, New Zealand, USA, Germany, Austria and Portugal.

The St Emilion Classification has just had a reshuffle; an event that happens every ten years. And every ten years the demoted chateaux launch official objections....naturally. This time around the objection has been upeld on the grounds of some of the reviewers having business relations with the properties under review. The administrative court alsofound that the blind tasting - which is part of the evaluation procedure - was biased because the ranked chateau from the 1996 classification were tasted seperately from the new contenders, thus putting the new guys at a disadvantage.

The champenoise are undoubtedly the world leaders when it comes to packaging, hype and imaging. But Perrier Jouet have set a new landmark with the release of a special cuvee of their 2000 Blanc de Blanc. The cuvee is available for purchase through the London Ritz, The Royal Opera House (London) and Quintessentially at a mere £35 000 for a case of twelve bottles. YIKES!

There are some add-ons that help justify the price.....a little. Those who buy a case (and a few have reportedly already been sold) get a trip to champagne to meet Herve Deschamps - the Perrier Jouet Cellarmaster - to create their own blend and sign the bottles. After ageing in a dedicated cellar (one wonders what makes the cellar any different than the regular BE cellar) the wine will be shipped to the fiscally denuded owner.   

 Can Cristal trump the move?