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750ml
Bottle:
$26.89
12 bottles:
$26.35
Abundant fruit with a slight tropical note backed by judicious oak. The fuller viscosity that is a signature of this...
750ml
Bottle:
$61.27
$68.08
12 bottles:
$49.40
Belle Glos Chardonnay from Glasir Holt vineyard boasts a refreshing acidity and a rich mouthfeel with flavors of...
750ml
Bottle:
$39.67
$44.08
6 bottles:
$33.60
This elegant white wine exhibits aromas of lemon, kiwi, orange blossom, and sweet basil. Jasmine, lime, ginger and...
750ml
Bottle:
$22.20
12 bottles:
$21.76
Light aromas of honeysuckle and other white flowers are cut by chalk on the nose of this bottling. The palate hits...
750ml
Bottle:
$21.67
$24.08
12 bottles:
$17.41
Broad aromas of white pear, poached apple and citrus peel draw the nose into this widely popular bottling. There's a...
750ml
Bottle:
$44.69
$46.00
The wine is plush and enveloping, and yet like all of Jim Clendenen's wines, it also remains light on its feet. Hints...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.68
12 bottles:
$17.33
This stunning wine leaps out of the glass, with concentrated flavors and aromas of white peach, quince and pineapple,...
750ml
Bottle:
$51.94
Enticing aromas of buttercream, cake batter and macadamia nut are clean and light on the nose of this bottling. The...
750ml
Bottle:
$64.50
12 bottles:
$63.21
The 2020 Chardonnay Estate is a big step up from the 2019. Lemon confit, apricot, ginger and light tropical notes...
750ml
Bottle:
$32.90
$35.60
Named after Fess' daughter, Ashley, this chardonnay represents the best of the acclaimed Sta. Rita Hills growing...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.08
12 bottles:
$19.68
A lovely nose of straw, lemon curd and white tea. Full-bodied with very nice, yeasty complexity and drive....
750ml
Bottle:
$56.40
12 bottles:
$55.27
Plump, showcasing peaches in syrup, apricot pastry, spices and dried ginger, with nutmeg grace notes, firm acidity...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.94
12 bottles:
$20.52
• Practicing Organic.
• 100% Chardonnay.
• Sourced from the Santa Maria Valley & Sta. Rita Hills AVAs.
•...
750ml
Bottle:
$38.88
$41.20
12 bottles:
$38.10
This wine has great tension, mouthfeel, and focus. Notes of lemon, oyster-shell, and river rocks on both the nose and...
Chardonnay Mavrodaphne United States California Santa Barbara
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?
Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.
California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.
Santa Barbara is home to many of California's most sought after wines, with a powerful reputation for superbly crafted, old world style big, flavorful and complex red wines. The white wine industry in the region is growing, too, with many wineries within Santa Barbara successfully experimenting with several classic white wine grape varietals. As in much of California, Santa Barbara benefits from the blazing west coast sunshine, coupled with cooling Pacific Ocean breezes and fogs, which help to temper the grapes and slow the ripening process, thus ensuring more flavor and aroma in the resulting wines. Although Santa Barbara is a relatively young wine region, it is home to many wineries who are extremely dedicated when it comes to demonstrating just how good their terroir is, and how characterful their region's wines can be.