Do we ship to you?.
750ml
Bottle:
$76.08
6 bottles:
$74.56
This is an attractively intense style with ripe red berry, plum and chocolate aromas and flavors. The glossy tannins...
750ml
Bottle:
$56.90
$61.20
Dense, with toothsome tannins that add a firm background to tangy blackberry and blueberry flavors, with notes of...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.64
$19.60
12 bottles:
$17.48
A consistently great McLaren Vale Shiraz. Generously rich with amazing fruit weight and balanced, chewy tannins....
750ml
Bottle:
$24.93
$27.20
Quite a savory expression with dark plums, dried blackberries and violets, as well as fine-ground, toasted...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.94
$13.87
12 bottles:
$12.76
Offers Kalamata olive, spice, date nut bread and black licorice notes, which add complexity to the core of tangy...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$61.20
As Australian vineyards go, this isn't that old, having been planted in 1971. Chocolate and vanilla shadings frame...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$61.89
#71 TOP 100 CELLAR SELECTIONS 2020. Thanks in part to the relatively cool year, this is a wine that manages...
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$61.20
#49 of Top 100, 2021. A rich, succulent mix of dark chocolate, spiced plum, wild blackberry and black licorice notes....
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle:
$58.89
This has such effortless depth and impressive measure. It delivers aromas of ripe red and dark plums with slate and...
750ml
Bottle:
$199.94
A barrel selection chosen from a couple of vineyard blocks, the 250-case production 2016 Marsican Shiraz exudes...
750ml
Bottle:
$50.40
Intense, complex and bright nose of black cherry and blackened cedar wood with complex dried Mediterranean herbs. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$61.20
Immense lift, the aromatics are an incredibly intense amalgam of blackcurrant, menthol, licorice and cedar oak. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$45.79
$50.88
Dense and generous, with ripe black cherry, raspberry and blueberry preserves, accents of espresso and bittersweet...
750ml
Bottle:
$69.93
$76.08
This McLaren Vale Shiraz is powerful and expressive. Lifted aromatics of dark berries and smoky oak leap boldly from...
750ml
Bottle:
$26.01
$27.97
Plush and polished, with ripe notes of maraschino cherry, milk chocolate and raspberry preserves. Details of...
750ml
Bottle:
$166.95
$184.08
Our ultimate expression of Fruit Weight™. The Velvet Glove is an Australian Shiraz with strength, depth and...
750ml
Bottle:
$19.19
12 bottles:
$17.48
100% Shiraz. Colour: Vibrant purple & pink. Aroma: Ironstone, cold smoke & raspberries. Palate: Medium-bodied,...
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle:
$14.52
The 'Little Road' Shiraz from out McLaren Vale vineyards is full bodied and richly flavoured showing attractive...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.85
$16.25
12 bottles:
$14.55
The grapes used to make this wine have been sourced from select vineyards in McLaren Vale, including those planted on...
Grenache Mavrodaphne Syrah Australia Fleurieu McLaren Vale
The Grenache grape holds the honor of being the most widely planted wine grape varietal on earth. It has a long and impressive history, and has been the backbone of the some of the planet’s most respected and famed wine regions, blended with Syrah in regions such as Chateauneuf du Pape, and in certain other Loire and Languedoc regions where it reigns supreme as a single varietal wine grape. In other key areas, such as Spain’s La Rioja (where it is known as Garnacha Tinta), it is blended with Tempranillo to make that country’s signature red wine, and is widely used as a blending grape in other old and new world countries, due to its unique character and jammy, fruit forward character.
For a long time, the Grenache grape was somewhat looked down upon as an ignoble varietal, incapable of producing wines of any particular interest. However, times are very much changing - in the right hands, Grenache grapes result in astonishingly intense and complex wines, full of fascinating features, and capable of achieving plenty of expression. For a while now, Grenache has been a major player in Australian wines. While not yet quite as extensively planted down under as Shiraz is, the Barossa Valley is bringing out some of the finest examples of this grape’s wines in recent years.
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.
Whilst most of Australia consists of arid deserts and dense bushland, the oceanic coasts to the south of the country have a terrain and climate ideal for vine cultivation and wine production. It took several decades of failed attempts at the end of the 18th century in order to produce vines of a decent enough quality for making wine, but since those first false starts, the Australian wine industry has continued to grow and grow. Today, wine production makes up for a considerable part of the Australian economy, with exports in recent years reaching unprecedented levels and even overtaking France for the first time ever. Whilst the greatest successes in regards to quality have been the result of the Syrah grape varietal (known locally as Shiraz), Australia utilizes several Old World grapes, and has had fantastic results from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, Chardonnay and more. As the Australian passion for locally produced wine continues to develop, wineries have begun experimenting with a wider range of grape varietals, meaning that nowadays it isn't uncommon to find high quality Australian wines made from Petit Verdot, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and Viognier, amongst many others.
The Fleurieu peninsula is a stunning region of south Australia, located close to Adelaide and constantly drawing attention to itself over recent years due to its international status as an 'up and coming' wine region. Indeed, there has been much excitement over the wines produced in Fleurieu during the past decade, as this relatively small and unusual peninsula has consistently been producing many of the most flavorful and accessible red wines ever to come out of Australia. Thanks to its Mediterranean style climate, the vines in Fleurieu are able to produce fully ripened fruit each year, and the climatic conditions allow vintners plenty of flexibility when it comes to their wine making methods. Whilst the region is still primarily producing Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines, there has been much successful innovation and experimentation with a wide range of grape varietals over recent years, and we can expect to see and hear much more from Fleurieu in the near future.