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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $74.95
Bright and juicy, this is still quite primal, with ebullient cassis,linzer torte and blackberry fruit pumping out,...
WS
91
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $118.95
The 2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape had just been bottled at the time of the tasting but you...
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96
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $289.85
(80% grenache and 20% syrah): Deep ruby. Extremely primary, pungent aromas of dark berry skin, cherry, licorice and...
WA
93
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93
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750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $107.20
Taking on some lovely forest floor scents, with polished wood and a touch of brown sugar to the strawberry fruit....
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97
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97
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1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $130.62
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750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $78.65
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $82.37
The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape (which tips the scales around 15% natural alcohol) is a great example of traditional...
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95
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94
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $58.08
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $129.69
This bottle of the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes came across as being a bit over the top for my...
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $173.79
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $98.95
Under the estate Domaine du Pegau label, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee is spending a longer time in...
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750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $112.47
This is crammed with fruit, spice and structure, as braised fig, plum skin, cassis and anise notes wrestle with...
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750ml - Case of 6
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Aged all in demi-muid, the tiny production 2009 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Secret des Sabon is up there with...
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1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $65.93
The least expensive offering, the dense ruby/plum/purple-colored 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Olivets (80% Grenache,...
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750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $132.95
Even better is the 507-case cuvee of 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac. One of the wines of the vintage, this dark...
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1.5Ltr - Case of 6
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750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $68.21

Cortese Red Rhone Blend Savatiano 2009

The Cortese white wine grape varietal has been grown in and around south Piedmont, Italy, for at least five hundred years. Its delicate nature and moderate acidity have made it a favorite with people around the world, and it is most commonly served alongside the excellent seafood and shellfish dishes of the part of Italy it is traditionally grown in. Cortese grapes are easily identifiable by their lime and greengage flavors, and their generally delicate and medium bodied character. Cortese wines are also notable for their freshness and crispness, again, making them an ideal match for seafood. Whilst colder years often produce harsher, more acidic Cortese wines, practices such as allowing malolactic fermentation can solve any such problems and still produce delicious white wines made from this varietal.

Savatiano is probably Greece's most well known and most widely grown grape varietal, as it is the primary grape used in the production of Retsina, where the fermenting juices of the Savatiano varietal are flavored with pine resin in order to make this distinctive and famous wine. One of the reasons for the wide cultivation of this grape is due to its hardiness, and resistance to drought conditions. In the sun-drenched and dry, rocky Greek landscapes, this makes it an ideal vine to grow for wine-makers who require a strong and bounteous yield each year.

However, there are plenty of examples of Greek white wines which use the Savatiano grape but withhold from the addition the pine resin flavoring, allowing the true characteristics of this varietal to shine through. The result is often very pleasing indeed, with Savatiano grapes generally producing extremely well balanced and rounded white wines, with a juicily fruity flavor. Their aromas can vary quite a lot, with many Savatiano wines bearing the fragrance of citrus fruits, and also occasionally having a strong floral aroma reminiscent of elder and rose. Due to the relatively low acidity of Savatiano grapes, the wines which use them (including Retsina) generally bolster themselves with the addition of smaller quantities of more acidic varieties, such as Assyrtiko or Rhoditis, in order to improve their sometimes weak structure.

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?