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Red
750ml
Bottle: $36.00
12 bottles: $35.28
91-93 Red and black fruits, flowers, chalky minerality, and spicy, subtly leather-like nuances all emerge from the...
12 FREE
JD
93
VM
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $18.99
12 bottles: $18.61
Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.90
12 bottles: $14.60
Lots of cherries, blueberries and plums with some dried herb and cured meat aromas. Medium-bodied with plush tannins....
JS
90
Red
375ml
Bottle: $22.94
12 bottles: $22.48
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $30.94
12 bottles: $30.32
Vinified from certified organic grapes, the 2022 Crozes-Hermitage checks in at a modest 12% alcohol. Blood orange...
12 FREE
VM
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.28
12 bottles: $27.39
91-93 From one of my favorite producers, the 2020 Crozes-Hermitage Domaine reveals a dense purple hue to go with a...
JD
93
VM
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $59.94
12 bottles: $58.74
92-94 Highly perfumed blackberry, cherry, olive and floral aromas are complicated by suggestions of exotic spices and...
12 FREE
VM
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $27.74 $29.60
Deep violet. Lively aromas of fresh blackberry, cherry and candied flowers, along with cracked pepper and olive...
VM
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.90 $21.20
100% Syrah, this is an elegant, earthy wine that loves to find itself paired with a roast chicken or duck.
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $34.96 $36.80
Textured and lythe. Flavors of fresh blueberries and blackberries are accented by notes of fresh cracked black...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $59.84 $63.19
12 bottles: $59.28
I tasted barrels from a couple of the lieux-dits that will go into Faury's 2020 Cote Rotie, both of which impressed...
12 FREE
WA
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $33.85 $34.79
12 bottles: $33.17
91-93 Deep, bright-rimmed ruby. Pungent floral and black pepper flourishes complement smoke-inflected dark berry...
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VM
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $104.24
12 bottles: $97.95
A blend of grapes from Bassenon, Maison Rouge and Lancement, the 2019 Cote Rotie Blonde du Seigneur contains about 5%...
12 FREE
WA
93
JD
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $64.94 $70.99
From a muscovite-based site above Chavanay, the 2019 Saint Joseph Terres d'Encre doesn't come across as being from a...
12 FREE
WA
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.79
12 bottles: $38.99
This bright, alluring wine leads with violet, plum and black pepper, all wrapped around a core of graphite. Sleek and...
12 FREE
WS
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $44.80
12 bottles: $43.90
Offers a vibrant beam of cassis and violet flavors that race along, with smoked meat and iron accents. Floral and...
12 FREE
WS
91
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $449.94
A good vintage - the problem was the yields,' says Jean-Louis. A tasting of principal component lieux-dits Péléat,...
12 FREE
DC
100
JS
98
Red
750ml
Bottle: $64.80
Not yet bottled, the 2017 Cornas has a rich, powerful, chewy style as well as notes of blackberries, blueberries,...
12 FREE
JD
93
WA
92
Red
Red
750ml
Bottle: $90.00
Deep ruby. Dark fruit preserves, olive, woodsmoke and a hint of incense on the powerfully scented nose. Intense,...
12 FREE
VM
92

Mavrodaphne Mencia Syrah

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?

Known as Syrah in most countries around the world, and Shiraz in Australia and certain other regions of the New World, this grape varietal has proven over the centuries to be one of the most powerful and flavorful red wine grapes there is. It is now one of the planet's most widely grown grapes, and is a favorite with wineries as a result of its robustness and versatility. It isn't easy to identify many characteristics of this particular varietal, due to the fact that it is highly versatile and shows significant differences in flavor and character depending on the terroir it is grown in, and the climatic conditions of the region. However, Syrah is most widely associated with full bodied, strong and loud red wines, packed full of fruity and spicy flavors, held in a beautifully deep red liquid.