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Dessert/Fortified Wine
500ml
Bottle: $18.94
12 bottles: $18.56
Pale to golden yellow. The heady intensity of wild flowers and fresh fruits (peach, plum, citrus, honey) abound in...
Dessert/Fortified Wine
500ml
Bottle: $41.54
Tasted at the Disznóko vertical in London, the 2013 Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos is an (Aszú) blend of 75% Furmint, 15%...
12 FREE
WA
93
WS
93
Sale
Dessert/Fortified Wine
500ml
Bottle: $62.90 $65.20
This golden-colored Tokaji has aromas of raw honey, apricot blossom, pear and baked apple tart. Silky smooth upon...
12 FREE
WE
97
WS
96
Dessert/Fortified Wine
375ml
Bottle: $497.95
This 2009 Eszencia is the oldest and darkest in color in comparison to the other vintages in the vertical line up. It...
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JS
97
Dessert/Fortified Wine
750ml
Bottle: $37.20
6 bottles: $36.00
This sweet wine aged in an airtight environment protected from antioxidants retains all of its fruit and balance...
Dessert/Fortified Wine
12 FREE
Case only
Dessert/Fortified Wine
12 FREE
Case only
Dessert/Fortified Wine
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White
White
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.94
12 bottles: $17.58
This fresh and vibrant Muscadet shows lifted notes of Meyer lemon, white peach, and Key lime, with a mouthwatering...
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White
White
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White
750ml
Bottle: $17.35 $19.28
12 bottles: $15.05
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.93 $16.25
12 bottles: $14.63
La Pepiere is one of the best and most progressive Muscadet producers, even as it's undergone a leadership...
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.94
12 bottles: $14.64
Full bodied & mineral. Bright hue. Nose of white flowers & almonds.
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.94
12 bottles: $27.38
30-60 year old vines located north of the Lac de Grandlieu. Vineyards are planted densely with 7,000 vines per hectare.
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.94
12 bottles: $14.64
30-60 year old vines located north of the Lac de Grandlieu. Vineyards are planted densely with 7,000 vines per hectare.
White
12 FREE
Sale
White

Dessert Wine Mavrodaphne Melon de Bourgogne Mencia

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?

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.