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Instore only
White
5.0Ltr
Bottle: $20.99
Delicate strawberry aromas and flavors. Crisp, drinkable wine with a pleasing, easy finish. Serve Chilled.
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $11.31 $12.57
• 100% Loureiro from choice, south-facing parcels on granite in the Lima Valley. • Hand-harvested. • Fermented...
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.94
12 bottles: $27.38
Melissae is named after the nymphs of honey. The wine shows intense flowery aromatics reminiscent of nectar, making...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $14.89 $16.25
Crystaline citrus color. Delicate tangerine and lime zest in a mineral, elegant, low alcohol profile where a touch of...
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.94
12 bottles: $17.58
Bright pale yellow citrus hue. A wine with the backbone of granite minerality, were the aromas dominated by fruits...
White
750ml
Bottle: $23.94
12 bottles: $23.46
This delicious wine is bright, lively and balanced. With flavors of citrus fruits, and apple aromas, this wine pairs...
White
750ml
Bottle: $22.94
12 bottles: $22.48
Loureiro and Vinhão. Harvested and destemmed manually before spontaneous fermentation with the skins in...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.62 $12.91
12 bottles: $11.52
COLOR: Ruby red with purple highlights. NOSE: Elegant fruit aromas of cherries and plums with an enticing warm,...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $26.00
12 bottles: $25.48
Produced from very old vines (60-65 yrs!), this Barbera exudes floral, black currant, and licorice aromas. The palate...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $20.95
12 bottles: $20.53
100% Barbera from vines located in Perno in the village of Monforte d'Alba, on the right slope in front of...
12 FREE
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.38 $20.40
6 bottles: $17.50
Laced with blackberry, black cherry and spice flavors, this red is rich and juicy. Well-structured too, yet balanced...
WE
90
WS
90
Instore only
White
187ml
Bottle: $6.99
Fruity and friendly, aromas of bubblegum and berry candy are light and fresh. Juicy watermelon, cherry candy and pink...
UBC
89
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $11.94 $12.57
12 bottles: $9.51
Fruity and friendly, aromas of bubblegum and berry candy are light and fresh. Juicy watermelon, cherry candy and pink...
UBC
89
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.76 $13.43
12 bottles: $10.45
Very well balanced wine with low level of alcohol. Very aromatic, cotton candy and strawberry aromas. Light in the...
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $29.64 $31.99
Alluring aromas of dark-skinned berry, exotic spice and an earthy note of tilled soil come together in the glass. The...
WE
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $87.99
6 bottles: $86.23
Like all great wines, Barbera too has its own crus. In certain areas and vineyards where it reaches the highest of...
12 FREE
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White
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $25.81 $27.17
6 bottles: $16.68
The Basics Our signature varietal, this wine is always a crowd pleaser. The Taste In making White Zinfandel, the...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.43 $13.08
The Basics Our signature varietal, this wine is always a crowd pleaser. The Taste In making White Zinfandel, the...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $34.94
12 bottles: $34.24
• 100% Barbera. • Practicing Biodynamic. • Sierra Foothills AVA (Shake Ridge Vyd). • Planted in early...
12 FREE
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $124.85
The 2019 Barbera d’Asti Ai Suma is laced with blackberry jam, crème de cassis, sweet spice, licorice, lavender and...
12 FREE
VM
93

Barbera Loureiro Mavrodaphne White Zinfandel

For centuries now, the beautiful red grapes of the Barbera varietal have been grown in Italy, where they are prized for their unusual high acid content and low tannins, brought about by their thin skins. The Barbera grape varietal thrives in warmer climates, and has had some success overseas in the new world, where its strongly aromatic flavors of intense hedgerow fruits make it a favorite with wineries and wine drinkers looking for a grape which offers plenty of interesting characteristics. Interestingly, the differences between young and aged wines made from this varietal are quite significant, with younger bottles holding a plethora of berry flavors, including blueberry and raspberry notes, and oak aged wines made from the Barbera grape being much loved for their ability to become extremely complex and spicy, and picking up vanilla flavors from the wood they are barreled in.

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?