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750ml
Bottle:
$19.20
12 bottles:
$15.44
Ruby color. Elegant, with fresh fig and ripe red berry aromas (black cherry, wild strawberry), as well as delicate...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.95
12 bottles:
$14.65
The Beau! Beaujolais comes from a forty year-old high-density vineyard. Fermentation is traditional, 100%...
750ml
Bottle:
$28.94
12 bottles:
$28.36
If there is a red grape more expressive in its youth than Valdiguié, we've yet to meet it. It's so many vibrant,...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.94
12 bottles:
$15.62
Brouilly is one of the Cru Beaujolais, which are known for producing excellent, food friendly, underrated wines at a...
750ml
Bottle:
$82.39
4 bottles:
$81.60
Complex profile with multiple nuances attributable to spicy and fruity notes with hints of vanilla, morello cherry...
750ml
Bottle:
$35.94
12 bottles:
$35.22
Dry and light with a hint of honeysuckle.
750ml
Bottle:
$29.94
12 bottles:
$29.34
Our classic, Number Fourteen, is a junmai ginjo namazake. Intended to be served locally, chilled, and enjoyed soon...
750ml
Bottle:
$23.94
12 bottles:
$23.46
Our classic, Blue Door, is a junmai namazake. Intended to be served locally, chilled, and enjoyed soon after the...
![Caffo Grappa Vecchia [Barrique] 750ml](https://www.saratogawine.com/files/images/cached_thumbs/27/27b3f764d9c6078ff71534c6397be9ef.jpg)
750ml
Bottle:
$26.40
12 bottles:
$22.80
Aged in oak for 12 months, this golden grappa edges close to aged brandy territory—although one sip and that grappa...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.99
12 bottles:
$15.67
Savory undertones of grilled thyme, fresh earth and smoky mineral flank the steeped cherry and raspberry fruit...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.88
$23.20
The Fleurie wine-making is traditional - whole clusters are kept, which leads to a semi-carbonic maceration as the...
750ml
Bottle:
$16.94
$17.50
12 bottles:
$16.63
The effusive violet and blackcurrant-pastille aromas draw you into this elegant and silky, mid-weight Brouilly with...
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$19.94
Delectable, fruity nose underscored with aromas of red and black fruits. Generous and aromatic on the palate, with...
750ml
Bottle:
$25.94
12 bottles:
$25.42
Delectable, fruity nose underscored with aromas of red and black fruits. Generous and aromatic on the palate, with...
750ml
Bottle:
$41.94
12 bottles:
$41.10
Needs a moment in the glass for the forest-berry aromas to open up. Very minerally and smoky with plenty of...
750ml
Bottle:
$32.94
The complex and compelling nose of red fruit pulls you inexorably into the concentrated and beautifully proportioned...
Gamay Grappa Sake Savatiano 750ml
The French wines of Beaujolais are widely regarded as some of the finest table wines in the world. This is due in part to the qualities of the Gamay grape, from which they are made. Gamay produces beautifully, juicy, rounded and gulpable red wines, usually drank young and full of their natural fruit character. However, it would be a mistake to say that Gamay is limited to easy-drinking, soft wines - it’s a highly flexible and versatile grape, capable of producing aged wines of serious complexity and structure, full of expression and fascinating characteristics.
The majority of Gamay wines from France are labeled under Beaujolais Villages or Beaujolais, and these are the standard table wines we’re used to seeing in French restaurants, at bistros, and at our local wine store. Usually great value for money, these are the light, slightly acidic examples of what the grape can do. Far more interesting are those Gamay wines from the 10 cru villages, just north of Beaujolais, where generations of expertise and a unique soil type made up of granitic schist result in far more unique, complicated wines. The best examples of Gamay feature intense aromatics, all black fruit and forest fare, and are worth cellaring for a few years.
Like so many of the great spirits of Europe, Grappa was born from a need to make resources go that little bit further, to eke out the last drop of flavor and potential from the crops of winemakers. Indeed, Italian vintners invented Grappa as a way to make use of the pomace - leftover grape skins, stems, pulp and seeds - which remained after the juice was extracted from the fruit needed to make wine. Over the centuries, the process was refined, and the distillation of Grappa became an art in itself. Today, top Grappa producers use a range of state of the art equipment, from continuous stills to pot stills, to manufacture a wide variety of Grappas, each with their own distinct characteristics.
Most of us know Grappa from our local Italian restaurants, where it is commonly served as a digestif. However, in the twenty first century, there is a high interest in unique, boutique Grappas, which showcase the talent of the distillers through a range of interesting qualities. Grappa can be aged in oak, in which case it takes on a beautiful golden color, quite different from the clear Grappas we are most familiar with. The high end Grappas are a world away from the harsh spirit many of us have encountered, and have a smooth, gentle quality which can be nothing short of a revelation.
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?