×
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $45.60 $48.00
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $46.74 $49.20
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
1.8Ltr
Bottle: $74.67 $78.60
A stout, robust and incredibly dry sake, prominent notes of black walnuts and caramel shading into spicy flavors of...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $36.48 $38.40
A stout, robust and incredibly dry sake, prominent notes of black walnuts and caramel shading into spicy flavors of...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $91.28 $96.08
6 bottles: $88.01
Delicate tropical aromas of melon, lychee, and pineapple with the floral hint of honeysuckle. Feather-light, layered...
12 FREE
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
300ml
Bottle: $15.05 $15.84
Layers of dried flowers and baking spice give way to savory salinity. Slightly dry and medium-bodied. Clean and...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $28.88 $30.40
Layers of dried flowers and baking spice give way to savory salinity. Slightly dry and medium-bodied. Clean and...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $30.78 $32.40
Instead of big, heady, fruity aromas, this showcases the grain and the koji. Notes of charred pizza crust and roasted...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
1.8Ltr
Bottle: $32.49 $34.20
6 bottles: $31.20
A remarkably elegant honjozo popular with local Miyagi drinkers, this is made from premium Yamada Nishiki rice milled...
Rapid Ship
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $16.25
12 bottles: $15.44
A remarkably elegant honjozo popular with local Miyagi drinkers, this is made from premium Yamada Nishiki rice milled...
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $20.52 $21.60
Rich and full, bursting with umami. Deep bass notes of soy sauce mingle with grains and freshly cut herbs.
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $45.60 $48.00
The NV Azuma Ichi Junmai Daiginjo has interesting crispy and refreshing notes, such as green apple, lime and green...
12 FREE
WA
90
Sale
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $30.78 $32.40
Medium-full body, savory bass notes of almond and cocoa are contrasted by bright high tones of candied strawberry and...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.64 $19.60
12 bottles: $15.83
A clean, simple Gavi with sliced apples and hints of stones and white almonds. Crisp, dry and light on the palate...
WE
88
JS
88
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $24.00
12 bottles: $22.80
Made from local Kita Nishiki rice, which lends the sake a clear structure and sharp finish. Aromas of green apple...
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $84.00
12 bottles: $79.80
Made from the top Yamada Nishiki sake rice from Yokowa, giving definition and transparency to the sake. Aromas of...
12 FREE
Sake/Fruit Wine
720ml
Bottle: $34.80
12 bottles: $33.06
Rare Aiyama rice is only grown in Hyogo, and provides a bright and expressive base for sake. Aroma of fresh...

Cortese Mavrodaphne Melon de Bourgogne Nosiola Sake Wine

The Cortese white wine grape varietal has been grown in and around south Piedmont, Italy, for at least five hundred years. Its delicate nature and moderate acidity have made it a favorite with people around the world, and it is most commonly served alongside the excellent seafood and shellfish dishes of the part of Italy it is traditionally grown in. Cortese grapes are easily identifiable by their lime and greengage flavors, and their generally delicate and medium bodied character. Cortese wines are also notable for their freshness and crispness, again, making them an ideal match for seafood. Whilst colder years often produce harsher, more acidic Cortese wines, practices such as allowing malolactic fermentation can solve any such problems and still produce delicious white wines made from this varietal.

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?

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.