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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....
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$31.54
Color: Dark ruby red, of exceptional intensity and compactness.
Perfume: Of great elegance and complexity; the wine...
750ml
Bottle:
$18.08
12 bottles:
$13.59
The Florio Vecchioflorio Marsala Superiore Dry appears amber-colored with gold highlights in the glass. The nose...
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...
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...
750ml
Bottle:
$40.84
6 bottles:
$40.04
Exciting, multi-dimensional, lifted, with peppermint tea, violets, and dark plums with wonderful purity. A modern...
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$37.61
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...
Pre-Arrival
Domenico Clerico Barbera D'alba Trevigne 2018
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$40.62
The Domenico Clerico 2018 Barbera d'Alba Trevigne sees its fruit sourced from three sites: the San Pietro vineyard,...
Pre-Arrival
Elvio Cogno Barbera D'alba Pre-Phylloxera 2018
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$68.02
This red offers a polished style, but with some tannins lurking beneath its black cherry, plum, chocolate and spice...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$61.45
The 2018 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Vecchia Scarrone has an extra kick of darkness, structure and overall gravitas than the...
Barbera Marsala Mavrodaphne 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.
Marsala is a well known fortified wine from Italy’s largest island, Sicily. A largely misunderstood and undervalued fortified wine, it is most commonly associated with its sweet variety - usually used as a cooking wine - although the finest dry Masalas are able to stand up to more revered, similar wines such as Sherry and Madeira. Marsala has been made in Sicily since the mid 18th century, and it grew wildly popular around Europe as sailors introduced it to port towns across the continent. Marsala wine has a beautiful set of flavors, most typically including apricot, tamarind, vanilla and tobacco, making it a delightfully intense treat when served as a sipping wine.
Marsala wine comes in several different varieties, and most of them are a world away from the sweet wines used in sauces and chicken dishes. Amber, golden and ruby versions of Masala are produced, from a range of different native grape varietals, and many of the finest are aged for over ten years to achieve a fascinating set of complex flavors and a remarkably smooth finish. It is usually made from the Grillo, Inzolia, Damaschino and Catarratto white grapes, although the ruby Masala wines uses typical Sicilian red varietals such as Nero d’Avola and Calabrese, among others.
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?