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750ml
Bottle:
$41.88
12 bottles:
$37.98
Readers will find a rich, flamboyant wine in the 2016 Barde-Haut. There is not a ton of subtlety here, but I am not...
750ml
Bottle:
$51.30
12 bottles:
$47.60
Showing brilliantly, the 2018 Château Barde-Haut comes from a beautiful, cooler terroir on the eastern side of...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.60
$44.00
Attractive black-fruit and berry character with some chocolate and toasted-hazelnut undertones. It’s full-bodied...
750ml
Bottle:
$22.80
12 bottles:
$21.66
Superb intensity and clarity of fruit, ranging from blueberries to blackcurrants to oyster shells and lightly tarry...
750ml
Bottle:
$44.69
$48.79
This is really nicely done with plenty of blackberries, dark chocolate and toasted oak. Medium to full body. Needs to...
750ml
Bottle:
$182.70
$203.00
This wine showed exceptionally well, both at the the Bordeaux 10 Years On tasting in London a few weeks ago and in...
1.5Ltr
Bottle:
$205.00
6 bottles:
$200.90
Fantastic aromas of crushed plums and blackberries. Perfumed! Full-bodied and very silky with stone undertones. Best...
750ml
Bottle:
$99.36
$110.40
Shows beautiful, ripe cabernet aromas with currants, plums, meat and smoke. Flowers, too. Full body, deep and ripe...
375ml
Bottle:
$55.35
12 bottles:
$54.24
This offers up a small plume of cocoa before steering back to more typical dark currant and black cherry fruit notes,...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.99
12 bottles:
$11.52
Shining ruby at its core with violet reflections, Beau-Rivage rouge shows fragrant blackberry, raspberry and...
750ml
Bottle:
$179.94
6 bottles:
$176.34
Impressive wine. Dark ruby color. Lovely aromas of raspberries, chocolate and flowers. Full-bodied and very chewy....
750ml
Bottle:
$75.95
$82.40
Barrel Sample. While this powerful wine does have considerable over-extraction, it also has swathes of ripe berry...
750ml
Bottle:
$99.20
12 bottles:
$93.10
This family-owned property at one of the high points in Saint-Émilion has made a rich, opulent wine, full of...
750ml
Bottle:
$84.90
$93.20
Showing spectacularly well on the two occasions I was able to taste it, the 2016 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is a...
750ml
Bottle:
$74.94
$80.70
This estate makes an incredibly classic, elegant Saint-Emilion. The 2018 Château Beau-Séjour Bécot is based on 80%...
Mavrodaphne Red Bordeaux Other Italian Reds Vermentino Nero
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?
There are few regions in the world with stricter regulations in regards to wine production and grape varietals than those found in Bordeaux, France. Here, in the home of the world's finest wines, the type and quality of grapes used is of utmost importance, and the legendary wineries which work on the banks of the Gironde river have mastered the careful art of juice blending to find the perfect balance for their produce. Whilst there are six 'official' Bordeaux grapes, the two key varietals for almost every fine Bordeaux wine are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, and with good reason. Whilst Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are renowned for their acidity and astringency, strong fruit and spice flavors and full body, Merlot grapes are notably rounded, soft, fleshy and lighter on tannin. The combination of these two varietals, along with a small percentage of (commonly) Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc, is the perfect balancing act – the two grape varietals cancel out each others weaker points, and accentuate all that is good about the other.