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White
750ml
Bottle: $42.80
12 bottles: $41.94
Intense nose of fresh green fruit – apple, pear – and white flowers and fennel. Mineral with a refreshing acidity.
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.43 $21.59
12 bottles: $17.80
With a pale silver straw appearance, the 2021 Chardonnay Alexander Valley has soft, fragrant aromas of white peach,...
JD
89
Instore only
White
5.0Ltr
Bottle: $19.94
Dry white wine with flavors of apple and pear. A crisp wine with a clean finish. Semi-dry and medium-bodied.
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White
750ml
Bottle: $65.89 $66.79
Deep nose with a sharp mineral overtone to the complex aromas of white sesame, praline, grilled spices and roasted...
12 FREE
JS
94
WS
93
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.94
12 bottles: $19.54
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.40
Chopped apples, fresh pears, hints of smoke and nougat on the nose. Creamy and full-bodied, balanced by vibrant...
JS
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.94
12 bottles: $13.66
Made from 100% Chardonnay, half of which was fermented in oak giving lovely depth and complexity.
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White
750ml
Bottle: $28.64
12 bottles: $28.07
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White
750ml
Bottle: $14.94
12 bottles: $13.99
Chardonnay greenish yellow. Shades of apple and lemon combined with touches of pineapple and honey. White fruits and...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $14.41 $15.17
12 bottles: $12.36
With rich fruit flavors, Altoona Hills Chardonnay shows considerable complexity, reinforced with subtle notes of...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $39.84 $44.00
The color of this wine is best described as pale straw with a slight tint of emerald green. The nose opens as a...
Sale
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.94 $35.94
Moving to the four Chardonnays I was able to taste, the 2018 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast reveals a light gold color as...
12 FREE
JD
92
WA
90
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $23.90
Yummy spices like nutmeg, vanilla bean and cloves waft from the glass before rich golden apple, spiced apple, light...
JS
94
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $14.90 $15.83
12 bottles: $14.25
Lime juice, chalk, plumeria and peach make for a zippy, yet ripe nose on this bottling. The palate's citrusy core...
WE
88
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.94
12 bottles: $19.54
White
750ml
Bottle: $41.94
12 bottles: $41.10
• 100% Chardonnay. • Old Wente selection planted in 1999 by Ulises Valdez on Goldridge Soil in a block of...
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Case only
White
1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $91.80
This is a generous, layered white with lots of cooked apples and hints of coconut and vanilla. Full body. Phenolic...
JS
94
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $51.93
This is a generous, layered white with lots of cooked apples and hints of coconut and vanilla. Full body. Phenolic...
12 FREE
JS
94
Case only
White
1.5Ltr - Case of 6
Bottle: $91.80
Slightly more expensive, the 2019 Chardonnay A26 is cut from the same cloth as the Mountain Select release yet offers...
JD
94
WA
92
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $46.75
Slightly more expensive, the 2019 Chardonnay A26 is cut from the same cloth as the Mountain Select release yet offers...
12 FREE
JD
94
WA
92

Chardonnay Mavrodaphne Mencia Semillon

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

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?

Semillon was, at one point not so long ago, widely believed to be one of the most grown grape varietals in the world. Whilst today the numbers of Semillon grapes has dropped considerably, it remains a widely planted grape with vineyards all over Europe and the New World dedicated to making the most of this special and flavorful varietal. The grapes are recognizable by their golden color, and the fact that they can take on a pinkish hue in particularly warm climates. The wines the Semillon grape produces are notably varied, and are often very crisp and dry, or sweet and soft, full of a wide range of flavors Commonly, dry Semillon wines are particularly citrus in flavor, with a delicate and summery bouquet. The vine is hardy and vigorous, and notable for being easy to grow and produce high yields from.