×
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $15.94 $16.66
12 bottles: $15.83
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $9.94
12 bottles: $9.74
Big rich fruit aromas of blue berry and smoke. Full bodied and bold, upfront and direct. (Bronze) - DWWA 2023
DC
88
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $31.94 $33.60
12 bottles: $31.92
The 2020 Syrah Purisima Mountain Vineyard is a powerful, dense wine. Blueberry, blackberry, lavender, melted road tar...
VM
92
JD
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $23.94
12 bottles: $23.46
This red has terrific purity to the green tea, raspberry puree, blueberry and blood orange flavors, while polished...
WS
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $51.94
12 bottles: $50.90
Nostalgic aromas of the Aussie bush, with a core of sweet cherries doused with cloves and cardamon. Smoked...
12 FREE
JS
93
Red
750ml
Bottle: $57.40
12 bottles: $56.25
Quite light in the glass, this is a lovely style of lighter Pinot Noir, starting with aromas of light red fruit,...
12 FREE
WE
96
VM
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $54.00
12 bottles: $52.92
The 2019 Syrah Rattlesnake Rock shows the more elegant side of Syrah in its restrained aromatics and finessed,...
12 FREE
VM
94
JD
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $31.94
12 bottles: $31.30
This Shiraz is deep red in colour, underpinned by bright purple hues. Lifted and complex on the nose, the Shiraz...
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.76 $13.43
12 bottles: $10.45
Intense color, flavor and soft tannins from grape skins. Ripe berry fruits along with fig and raisin add to the...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $54.72
12 bottles: $53.63
Occidental Hills Syrah is a single-vineyard bottling from our 0.21 acre Syrah planting at English Hill Vineyard....
12 FREE
Sale
Red
750ml
Bottle: $79.88 $88.08
The 100% Syrah 2019 Fracture comes all from the Booker Estate Vineyard and is another pure, balanced, incredibly...
12 FREE
VM
97
JD
97
Red
750ml
Bottle: $19.73
12 bottles: $19.34
A rich, medium- to full-bodied red, with an underpinning of mesquite smoke and loamy earth and flavors of fig cake,...
WS
91
Red
750ml
Bottle: $12.94
12 bottles: $12.35
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.94
12 bottles: $19.54
12 FREE
White
1.0Ltr
Bottle: $15.93
12 bottles: $15.61
Delicate fresh green apple fruity aromas; displaying flavors of lemon; lime and peaches; solid fruit core; rich in...
Red
750ml
Bottle: $50.20
12 bottles: $46.55
Les Murets reveals a very dark purple robe with purple reflections. The nose offers a very rich and racy aromatic...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $22.94
12 bottles: $22.48
Varnishy oak on the nose and palate at this stage, it does, however, have good concentration and intense acidity that...
12 FREE
DC
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $25.94
12 bottles: $25.42
Color: Mauve with a raspberry rim. Nose: Intense aromas of black fruits and pepper with toasty undertones. Palate:...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.94
12 bottles: $21.50
Color: Bright ruby with purple notes. Nose: Intense aromas of red fruits - especially red currant, raspberry. Palate:...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $20.95
12 bottles: $20.53
This is a very rich and creamy gruner veltliner, but you don’t feel the 14% until the very end, when a touch of...
12 FREE
JS
89

Armagnac Gruner Veltliner Mavrodaphne Syrah

Armagnac is a beloved grape brandy, hailing from the beautiful French region of Gascony, in the south-west of the country. It has been in constant production since sometime just before the fifteenth century, and over the decades has been the toast of royal households across Europe. Today, it is still enjoyed for its unique flavor profile and characteristics, and although it is understandably compared with Cognac, its more famous cousin, lovers of Armagnac claim that its distinctive rusticity and full body make it a superior brandy, perfect as a digestif or as an evening treat.

Armagnac is made from more than one grape varietal, but the major player in this drink is the fine Ugni Blanc grape, more commonly known by its Italian name, Trebbiano. This is one of the most widely planted grape varietals in the world, and grows beautifully in Gascony, which has a similar microclimate as its neighbouring wine region, Bordeaux. Armagnac grapes reveal fascinating and complex flavors after distillation, which commonly include christmas cake, earthy, oaky notes and praline.

Armagnac is sold under two categories - vintage, and non-vintage. A vintage Armagnac is made from a blend of grapes which have been grown in a single year, and will have the date printed on the label. Non-vintage Armagnacs, on the other hand, are labelled according to their age. V.S indicates that the brandy has been aged for a minimum of two years, VSOP for four years, XO six years, and Hors d’Age is a premium Armagnac which has been aged for at least ten years.

Gruner Veltliner is a pale skinned white wine grape varietal most closely associated with central European countries such as Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In recent years, it has spread somewhat to several New World countries, where it is becoming gradually more popular and regularly seen in wine stores. One of the main attractions of this grape varietal for winemakers is the fact that it is highly versatile, and can be used for the production of several different wine styles, including young, dry white wines, excellent sparkling wines, and it is also a grape varietal which is well suited for aging Gruner Veltliner has the ability to express much of its terroir, and the best examples are generally those which are full of delightfully mineral-rich flavors alongside the more usual notes of citrus fruits and peach.

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?

Known as Syrah in most countries around the world, and Shiraz in Australia and certain other regions of the New World, this grape varietal has proven over the centuries to be one of the most powerful and flavorful red wine grapes there is. It is now one of the planet's most widely grown grapes, and is a favorite with wineries as a result of its robustness and versatility. It isn't easy to identify many characteristics of this particular varietal, due to the fact that it is highly versatile and shows significant differences in flavor and character depending on the terroir it is grown in, and the climatic conditions of the region. However, Syrah is most widely associated with full bodied, strong and loud red wines, packed full of fruity and spicy flavors, held in a beautifully deep red liquid.