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Another perfect wine in the lineup is the 2020 Ermitage L'Ermite Blanc, and white wine simply doesn’t get any...
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98
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Perhaps the most surprising thing is how spectacular the 2002 whites are from Michel Chapoutier. Because of space...
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Just as good as the de l’Orée, but in a very different style, the medium gold-hued 2006 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc...
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99
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I was shocked by the 2007 Ermitage le Meal Blanc and from a vintage that yielded mostly forward, supple and...
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1.5Ltr - 1 Bottle
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From a warm site and a hot vintage, the 2009 Ermitage le Meal Blanc was harvested on the August 28, and aged in 100%...
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From a warm site and a hot vintage, the 2009 Ermitage le Meal Blanc was harvested on the August 28, and aged in 100%...
WA
99
WS
98
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Slightly more reserved now than on release, the 2012 Ermitage le Meal Blanc offers tons of honeyed minerality,...
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Similar in style to the hedonistically-styled Cuvee de l’Orée (especially when compared to the structured,...
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Another perfect wine is the 2015 Ermitage le Meal Blanc. The most decadent, unctuous and layered in the lineup, with...
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Similarly colored, the 2016 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc comes from a warmer terroir of pebbly and more loess soils and...
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The 2017 Ermitage le Meal Blanc starts with refined notes of crushed stone and pencil shavings that move into a...
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97-99 Is le Méal the most complex and complete lieu-dit on Hermitage, when considering both red and white wines? The...
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I was blown away by the 2020 Ermitage Le Méal Blanc, which is certainly the finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve...
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Brilliant all the way, the 2020 Hermitage Chante-Alouette Blanc is a white readers should snatch up. All Marsanne...
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Another blockbuster that savvy readers need to buy up, the 2012 Saint Joseph les Granits Blanc is a drop-dead...
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The white of the vintage in Saint Joseph is the 2014 Saint Joseph les Granits Blanc. Coming all from one of the top...
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Moving to the 2016s, the 2016 Saint Joseph Les Granits Blanc is beautiful, with lots of citrus blossom, crushed rock,...
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Quite possibly the finest white in the appellation, the 2020 Saint Joseph Les Granits Blanc is all Marsanne from what...
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Aidani Grenache Marsanne Mencia

One of the most ancient of the Greek grape varietals, Aidani has been cultivated on and around the Cyclades for millennia for its versatility and gently pleasing aromatic qualities. Wines made primarily with Aidani grapes tend to have a milder alcohol content than other classic Greek wines, and relatively low acidity. This makes Aidani wines a perfectly pleasant accompaniment to a wide range of traditional Greek foods, and equally pleasant to drink chilled at any time under the Greek sun. Nowadays, Aidani grapes are mostly likely to used as a blending grape, often being mixed with Assyrtiko grapes to balance out and mellow the acidity and high alcohol content found in them.

As a blending grape, the Aidani offers light, delicate floral tones, often reminiscent of a Muscat. On the island of Naxos, it has been traditionally blended with the Athiri grape to produce the island's signature sweet wine, Apiranthos, where the subtleties of the Aidani grape are really allowed to shine through. However, elsewhere in Greece you are far more likely to find the blend of these two distinctive grapes in dry white wines, where the Aidani is used primarily not for its flavor, but for its aroma and mellowing effect.

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?

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.