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Sale
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $34.33 $36.80
A wine of weight and substance, the 2019 Petite Syrah Lytton Estate is fabulous. Best of all, readers won't have to...
VM
95
JD
93
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $44.78 $46.80
12 bottles: $44.46
The two grape varieties crossed to create Petite Sirah are Pelousin and Syrah, and Robert Biale’s Royal Punishers...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $13.87 $15.41
Spellbound Petite Sirah has an intense color and generous bouquet of rich blackberries and blueberries, vanilla bean...
Instore only
Red
750ml
Bottle: $11.99
Spellbound Petite Sirah has an intense color and generous bouquet of rich blackberries and blueberries, vanilla bean...
Sale
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $31.81 $34.20
Lovely aromas of toasted herbs, baked plums, nutmeg and chicory root. Full-bodied with tight tannins. Juicy and...
JS
93
WS
90
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $39.89 $40.79
12 bottles: $39.09
This Rutherford-based winery has sourced the fruit for its 2019 Petite Sirah from Guarino Vineyards in Calistoga....
12 FREE
WA
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.80
12 bottles: $23.32
If you want to channel your inner Italian, chill a bottle of this quaffable, light-bodied, and botanical red and...
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $109.95
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
White
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $52.06
A wine of weight and substance, the 2019 Petite Syrah Lytton Estate is fabulous. Best of all, readers won't have to...
VM
95
JD
93
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $54.02
Sale
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
1.5Ltr - 1 Bottle
Bottle: $6604.12 $7025.66
The 2012 Petite Sirah The Writing on the Wall should be the greatest Petite Sirah to ever come out of California (or...
WA
100
VM
98

Mavrodaphne Mencia Petite Sirah Other Italian Reds

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?

Petite Sirah was first brought from France to America in the 1880s. It later went on to become one of the only grapes to make it through the devastating Phylloxera virus in the 1890s, both World Wars, and the Great Depression. During Prohibition, it was a main ingredient used to make sacramental wines. In fact, through the 1960s it was a major blending grape in a number of the finest wines produced in California.

By itself, a bottle of Petite Sirah usually has no problem making a quick impression on consumers. With a large amount of natural color and tannins, wines made with the grape commonly feature intensive sweet fruit characteristics like fresh raspberry or blackberry jam, black pepper spice, and plenty of backbone or structure.

There are a number of different styles available. Some concentrate on highlighting fresh, fruity flavors; others are bigger, more voluptuous; and it keeps going up the ladder until you reach the powerful, more machismo-style category.