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White
750ml
Bottle: $22.94
12 bottles: $22.48
Aromas of candied apples and spicy pears with some lemon drops follow through to a medium body with some marzipan and...
12 FREE
JS
88
White
500ml
Bottle: $58.88
6 bottles: $57.70
The 2010 Tokaji Aszu 5-Puttonyos had been bottled just a fortnight before I tasted it. Considering the growing...
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WA
92
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.94
12 bottles: $21.50
This serious body wine with great acid backbone has fruit aromas and grapefruit, green apple and peach along with a...
White
500ml
Bottle: $65.94
12 bottles: $64.62
• 100% Furmint. • South/South-East facing vineyard at 300 meters above sea level. • Clay mixed with broken...
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White
500ml
Bottle: $71.94
12 bottles: $70.50
• 100% Furmint. • South/South-East facing vineyard at 300 meters above sea level. • Clay mixed with broken...
12 FREE
W&S
91
Sale
White
500ml
Bottle: $88.93 $97.20
A gorgeous, gossamer-weight sweetie, creamy in texture yet beautifully balanced by vivid, mouthwatering acidity....
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WS
95
Sale
White
500ml
Bottle: $36.94 $41.20
Case only
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White
500ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $144.15
Aromas of honey and black tea give way to peach, apricot and tropical fruit flavors in the mouth. This is a...
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White
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $91.94
Round and creamy, this is a light- to medium-bodied white, displaying toasty hints of grilled nut and smoke layered...
WS
90
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White
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $111.95
A warm welcome to Petracs, only in its second vintage. Definitely the big brother of Mandolás. The volcanic soils of...
DC
96
WS
92
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White
375ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $391.37
Case only
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White
500ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $108.88
Case only
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White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $73.61
The very cool and delicate nose, with notes of mint and parsley, leads you into this very concentrated and tightly...
JS
96

Cherries Furmint Mavrodaphne Hungary Tokaj Wine

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?

Hungary was once considered one of the world's leading wine countries, with their distinctive and flavorful wines being the favorites of Europe's royal families until the early 20th century and the fall of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Soviet Union all but obliterated Hungary's wine traditions, replacing their unique produce with the sweet and characterless red wines the country is still often associated with, yet thankfully, the past twenty five years has seen an impressive return to form. All over the historic Tokaj region, craftsmen and master vintners are using the grape varietals which thrive on the hillsides in the hot summers and long autumns to once again produce the amazingly flavored Tokaji wines – a wine made by allowing the grapes to wither on the vine, thus concentrating the sugars and producing remarkable flavors and aromas of marzipan, dried fruits, pear and candied peel.