Sur Pointe


Sur Pointe describes when champagne bottles are stored upside down, on their necks. Bottles are held this way after riddling, while waiting to be disgorged, and are usually put into crates or cages to hold them in place. This method may also be used for the long-term storage of undisgorged bottles that still contain sediment, […]

« Back to Wine Words Index

Sur Pointe describes when champagne bottles are stored upside down, on their necks. Bottles are held this way after riddling, while waiting to be disgorged, and are usually put into crates or cages to hold them in place.

This method may also be used for the long-term storage of undisgorged bottles that still contain sediment, to concentrate the sediment in the neck so that the lees have a minimal continuing effect on the wine. Some say that wine keeps better when left undisgorged and stored this way, staying fresher for a longer period of time. Others prefer to disgorge wines normally before long-term storage.

The alternative to storage ‘sur pointe’ is ‘sur latte’.

In order to drink a bottle that is stored ‘sur pointe‘, it must first be manually disgorged, in a process called disgorgement à la volée.

« Back to Wine Words Index

Feeling Thirsty?

Pinot Noir from Macedon, Victoria

Bindi Dixon Pinot Noir 2025

The Dixon comes from part of the original 1988 planting of Pinot Noir at Bindi and some of the 2001 Kaye vineyard. As always, it's bottled a little earlier than the other five Bindi Pinot Noirs; at ten months rather than 15. The wine is made with destemmed fruit and wild yeast in open fermenters and matured in small French oak barrels, about 20% new in 2025. There is a seductive interplay between red and dark cherries and red and dark plums in this delicious and age worthy wine. On opening ther

Vintage 2025
$85
$81ea in any 3+
$77ea in any 6+
Add to cart

Riesling from Mosel, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Joh Jos Prüm Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese Riesling 2020

Broad, rich front palate. Juvenille, requiring a lot of coaxing to get it to come out to play. White stone fruit here. Increase in phenolic grip works well here. A little roller coaster of joy. With a silver line at the back palate. Playful, needs 5 years at least."The 2020er Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese still proves flinty, quite smoky, and reductive at first before it almost reluctantly reveals its super nose made of stone fruits, vineyard peach, Conference pear, anise, and h

Vintage 2020
$127
$122ea in any 3+
$117ea in any 6+

Nebbiolo from Novello, Barolo

Vietti Barolo ‘Ravera’ JEROBOAM 3L 2021

Pretty, red fruit. Beautifully developed. Impeccable élévage. An underlying tar/leather/slate notes layering in intriguing complexity. The Vietti crew have built quite a lot of structure into this Ravera of Novello. A wonderful example of Ravera making for a very complex iteration. Lovely generosity. Fine plush Neb tannin. Divine roses. Impressive!  Bud-break & harvest is around 2-3 weeks later than most of the other Communes for Vietti.Paul Kaan, WINE DECODED Sept 2025The 202

Vintage 2021 Jeroboam 3L
$2,715
$2695ea in any 3+
$2675ea in any 6+

Pinot Noir from Savigny-lès-Beaune, Côte du Beaune

Benjamin Leroux Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru ‘Hauts Jarrons’ 2022

One of Leroux’s close friends owns these vines in the heart of the 1er Cru on the east-facing Beaune side of Savigny. The most elegant Savigny wines tend to come from this area, so it is perfect for powerful years. Like most Côte d’Or terrain, the soils are clay/limestone, but the clay is light and sandy. So, although there’s more flesh than in the village cuvée, there is also greater finesse. All the fruit was destemmed this year, and again, it is a wonderfully bright and juicy renditio

Vintage 2022
$210
$200ea in any 3+
$190ea in any 6+