×
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $29.83 $32.00
The 2019 Fleurie is very pretty, soaring from the glass with scents of raspberries, peonies, warm spices and subtle...
WA
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $37.90
12 bottles: $36.10
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.00
12 bottles: $44.10
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $34.99
12 bottles: $34.30
The 2016 Fleurie Clos Vernay wafts from the glass with a nuanced bouquet of raspberries, wild plums, dark chocolate...
12 FREE
WA
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $33.94
12 bottles: $33.26
The 2017 Fleurie Clos Vernay was unaffected by hail according to Frédéric Lafarge. It has a deep, blueberry and...
12 FREE
WA
91
VM
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $26.00
12 bottles: $25.48
The 2016 Fleurie Joie de Palais was lucky to escape the hail that stopped 50 meters from Lafarge’s parcel. It has a...
WA
88
Red
750ml
Bottle: $33.94
12 bottles: $33.26
Beautifully vibrant and precise, the 2018 Fleurie Joie de Palais wafts from the glass with a pretty bouquet of...
12 FREE
WA
93
VM
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $36.00
12 bottles: $34.20
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.94
12 bottles: $23.46
• Practicing biodynamic. • 100% Gamay. • From a 2.75 ha parcel in the lieu-dit “Garanche” in the village of...
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $29.34
12 FREE
Red
Red
750ml
Bottle: $20.19
12 bottles: $19.79
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $25.94 $27.19
12 bottles: $25.42
• Vineyards are planted at a density of 10,000 vines per hectare. • Aged in a combination of large old foudres,...
Sale
Red
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $35.52 $37.39
6 bottles: $33.60
If it wasn’t for the lively acidity and the violet note, you might mistake this for a sophisticated Volnay!...
JS
93
VM
92
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.94 $41.80
12 bottles: $39.71
Red, fresh and meaty on the dense and reductive but very attractive nose, Stéphane Sérol's 2019 Côte Roannaise...
12 FREE
WA
92
Sale
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $35.18 $40.20
Silky texture and long finish.
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.90 $42.00
Silky texture and long finish.
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $40.66 $42.80
Silky texture and long finish.
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $50.00
12 bottles: $49.00
100% de-stemmed. Vinification in amphora. About 15 days of alcoholic fermentation and slow maceration with indigenous...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $40.66 $42.80
100% de-stemmed. Vinification in amphora. About 15 days of alcoholic fermentation and slow maceration with indigenous...
12 FREE

Cinsault Gamay Mavrodaphne Mencia

The French wines of Beaujolais are widely regarded as some of the finest table wines in the world. This is due in part to the qualities of the Gamay grape, from which they are made. Gamay produces beautifully, juicy, rounded and gulpable red wines, usually drank young and full of their natural fruit character. However, it would be a mistake to say that Gamay is limited to easy-drinking, soft wines - it’s a highly flexible and versatile grape, capable of producing aged wines of serious complexity and structure, full of expression and fascinating characteristics.


The majority of Gamay wines from France are labeled under Beaujolais Villages or Beaujolais, and these are the standard table wines we’re used to seeing in French restaurants, at bistros, and at our local wine store. Usually great value for money, these are the light, slightly acidic examples of what the grape can do. Far more interesting are those Gamay wines from the 10 cru villages, just north of Beaujolais, where generations of expertise and a unique soil type made up of granitic schist result in far more unique, complicated wines. The best examples of Gamay feature intense aromatics, all black fruit and forest fare, and are worth cellaring for a few 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?