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750ml
Bottle:
$469.94
12 bottles:
$460.54
Lush and creamy, this white offers spice-tinged peach, apple tart, vanilla and butterscotch flavors. Builds nicely to...
750ml
Bottle:
$42.05
12 bottles:
$41.21
From a vineyard that has since been designated as part of the new Petaluma Gap appellation, this wine shows the fog...
750ml
Bottle:
$31.00
12 bottles:
$30.38
Preserved lemon, orange blossoms, white grapefruit, and struck flint, with saline-like minerality due to strong...
750ml
Bottle:
$112.00
6 bottles:
$111.20
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$25.38
A distinctive version of Chardonnay, with obvious skin contact, showing delicate tannins and zesty flavors of orange...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$40.72
Pre-Arrival
Ballot Millot Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres 2015
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$263.95
The 2015 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru has a crisp, precise bouquet of Granny Smith apples, crushed stone and a...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$629.56
The 2015 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte Grand Cru offers up a youthful but expressive bouquet of hazelnut, apple,...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$656.95
$689.33
The 2015 Chevalier-Montrachet La Cabotte Grand Cru offers up a youthful but expressive bouquet of hazelnut, apple,...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$107.80
2015 was a textbook vintage and this is a great Cervaro. Citrus, cream and white flowers on the nose lead seamlessly...
Pre-Arrival
Catena Zapata Chardonnay White Bones 2015
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle:
$88.12
Extraordinary quality that rivals many grand cru Chablis. This is an intense, focused Chardonnay sourced from a...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$212.71
Golden hue. Open nose on yellow fruits, some lemon and oaky notes. Full, fleshy mouth hold by a large mineral...
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle:
$1121.46
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$51.95
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$112.04
Chardonnay Mavrodaphne Mencia Single Malt Scotch 2015 750ml
Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.
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?