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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $67.13
Ruby red in color, with purple hues. Rich, intense and persistent aromas of liquorice, violet, plum and vanilla....
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White
750ml
Bottle: $49.94
6 bottles: $48.94
The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Pine Mountain is made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc from a vineyard at 2,850 feet in elevation. It...
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WA
92
VM
90
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Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $31.54
Color: Dark ruby red, of exceptional intensity and compactness. Perfume: Of great elegance and complexity; the wine...
White
750ml
Bottle: $56.94
12 bottles: $55.80
Pruh is the flagship wine, a top, parcel selection of which only a single cask is bottled in years in which the wine...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.80
12 bottles: $18.42
Born from the blend of grapes coming from two areas, Langhe and Roero. Langhe give depth and volume, and Roero...
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White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $18.94
Light and elegant, with a note of peach blossom in the background and plenty of fresh lemon sherbet details. White...
WS
90
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $28.00
12 bottles: $27.44
Ruby-red color with purple hues. A suitably intense bouquet of red berries and syrupy fruit with traces of tobacco...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.68
12 bottles: $21.25
Red
750ml
Bottle: $40.84
6 bottles: $40.04
Exciting, multi-dimensional, lifted, with peppermint tea, violets, and dark plums with wonderful purity. A modern...
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DC
92
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.90
12 bottles: $14.60
This Saint-Bris has a golden color with light green highlights. Its powerful nose is characterized by aromas of...
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White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $68.95
Now mature, this wine balances crisp citrus with warm apricot flavors. It is smooth and intense, with a texture that...
WE
95
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White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $97.98
Having tasted the white Generation XIX a year ago before it headed for the bottling line, its pedigree continues to...
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95
WA
94
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White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $320.26
Mellot's 2018 Pouilly-Fumé opens with an intense and aromatic, clear and elegant bouquet of ripe pears and...
WA
92
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White
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $109.62
Sauvignon Blanc is the white wine from the Eisele Vineyard. The parcels are located on the Eastern side of the...
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White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $43.92
This has a refined, citrus edge with such focused and compact lemons and limes, as well as some green mangoes. Long,...
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92
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92
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Red
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $60.83
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $42.62
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $52.78
A release of 13,426 bottles, the Cavallotto 2018 Barbera d'Alba Superiore Vigna Cuculo is an organic wine with a...
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90
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White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $61.62
Pure, with tangerine zest, straw and nectarine notes sailing through. A bit linear, but shows intensity, featuring a...
WS
88

Barbera Mavrodaphne Sauvignon Blanc 2018

For centuries now, the beautiful red grapes of the Barbera varietal have been grown in Italy, where they are prized for their unusual high acid content and low tannins, brought about by their thin skins. The Barbera grape varietal thrives in warmer climates, and has had some success overseas in the new world, where its strongly aromatic flavors of intense hedgerow fruits make it a favorite with wineries and wine drinkers looking for a grape which offers plenty of interesting characteristics. Interestingly, the differences between young and aged wines made from this varietal are quite significant, with younger bottles holding a plethora of berry flavors, including blueberry and raspberry notes, and oak aged wines made from the Barbera grape being much loved for their ability to become extremely complex and spicy, and picking up vanilla flavors from the wood they are barreled in.

In the Archaea region, high in the Northern Peloponnese mountains, the predominant grape varietal grown is the prized Mavrodaphne. Meaning 'Black Laurel', the Mavrodaphne grapes have extremely dark skins, and ripen slowly under the Greek sunshine, helped by the mineral rich soils the vines thrive in. This grape varietal is mostly used to produce the opaque, inky fortified wine of the same name, which is popular all over Greece and elsewhere in the world. This fortified wine allows the grapes to really show off their complex and fascinating flavors, which range from a rich marzipan to flavors of bitter chocolate, sweet coffee, dried figs and prunes, as well as plenty of jammy fruit notes.

Mavrodaphne is produced in a traditional method which involves leaving the grape juice exposed to the sun in large vats, before having its fermentation halted by the addition of various distillates taken from previous successful vintages. This mixture contains plenty of residual sugar, which gives the end result its characteristic sticky sweetness, and also helps with the next fermentation process, which typically takes place in large underground cellars. The final product is a heady drink, absolutely bursting with unusual, rich and sweet flavors and carried in a dark and slightly viscous Port-like liquid.

Mavrodaphne grapes are also used for the production of still red wines, but are generally blended with varietals such as Agiorgitiko or imported grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon. Mavrodaphne grapes are excellent for mellowing more acidic varieties, and producing deliciously rounded wines, which have taken the international market by storm in recent decades.

Additional Information on Greek Wines


Greek Wines
Ancient Greek Wines – A Brief History of Wine in Greece
The Myth of Dionysus, Greek God of Wine
What is Retsina?

The green skinned grapes of the Sauvignon Blanc varietal had their origins in Southern France, where they are still widely grown and used for many of the excellent young and aged white wines the region is famous for. Today, however, they are grown in almost every wine producing country in the world, and are widely revered for their fresh and grassy flavors, full of tropical notes and refreshing, zesty character. Sauvignon Blanc grapes thrive best in moderate climates, and ripen relatively early in the year. This has made them a favorite for many wineries in the New World, where they can still produce healthy and high yields in the earlier part of the summer before the temperatures become too hot. Too much heat has a massively adverse effect on Sauvignon Blanc, as the grapes become dull in their flavor, and the wine produced from them loses all its unique character and high points. As such, Sauvignon Blanc farmers have had a lot of trouble from global warming and climate change, as they are being forced to harvest their crops increasingly earlier in the year when it is cool enough to do so.