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Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $36.90 $39.20
12 bottles: $36.16
Love the fruit on the center palate here with its brightness and vivid acidity. Citrus undertones and a fresh finish....
JS
93
DC
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $14.94
12 bottles: $14.64
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.94 $35.40
Very pretty and finely formed with currant, cherry and raspberry character. Medium to full body, firm and silky...
JS
93
DC
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.94 $36.70
Very pretty and finely formed with currant, cherry and raspberry character. Medium to full body, firm and silky...
JS
93
DC
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $498.95 $516.00
While few people get excited about second wines, the reality today is that the top estates are making such a strict...
12 FREE
JD
94
WS
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $17.83 $19.80
An attractive nose with red fruit and an array of red flowers that lead to a palate that has red fruit at its core...
JS
91
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $422.28 $469.20
#37 Top 100 Cellar Selection 2019. This is a rich, perfumed wine, with dense tannins and intense layers of black plum...
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WE
100
WA
98
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $1011.15 $1123.50
The incredible succulent power in Ausone puts a different perspective on other wines, as it so often does. The...
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DC
99
WA
99
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $41.88
12 bottles: $37.98
Readers will find a rich, flamboyant wine in the 2016 Barde-Haut. There is not a ton of subtlety here, but I am not...
VM
96
JD
95
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $22.80
12 bottles: $21.66
Superb intensity and clarity of fruit, ranging from blueberries to blackcurrants to oyster shells and lightly tarry...
JS
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $99.36 $110.40
Shows beautiful, ripe cabernet aromas with currants, plums, meat and smoke. Flowers, too. Full body, deep and ripe...
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JS
96
WA
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $84.90 $93.20
Showing spectacularly well on the two occasions I was able to taste it, the 2016 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is a...
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WA
95
VM
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.90 $22.20
A juicy and pretty wine with berry and chocolate character, a medium body and a clean finish. Clearly better than the...
WE
92
JS
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $94.94
6 bottles: $93.04
Beautiful aromas of plums, flowers, truffles, earth, and hot stones. Full-bodied, yet the very fine and polished...
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JS
96
DC
95
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $159.93 $169.50
Cassis, crushed rocks, graphite, and liquid violet notes all emerge from the 2016 Château Beauséjour, one of the...
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JD
100
JS
98
Sale
Red
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $222.17 $231.20
Incredibly perfumed aromas of roses and violets, as well as blue fruit and lavender. Full-bodied and powerful, yet so...
12 FREE
JS
99
WA
97
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $51.93 $54.00
Very fresh with fine dry tannins that carry the concentrated and ripe palate very nicely. I love the floral and...
12 FREE
JS
95
WA
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $67.20
12 bottles: $62.70
A dense and layered red with ripe plums and blueberries, as well as hints of wet earth and moss. Full-bodied, velvety...
12 FREE
JS
97
WA
94
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.80 $50.49
Love the combination of dark berries, sweet tobacco and wet earth here. Full-bodied, juicy and chewy with lots of...
12 FREE
WA
93
WE
93

Red Bordeaux Red Rhone Blend Savatiano 1998 750ml

There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.

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?