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750ml
Bottle:
$12.60
$15.00
An inviting nose of peaches, sliced pears and dried orange peel. Medium-bodied with delightful texture. Bright and...
![Aeris [By Rhys] Bianco 'Centennial Mountain' 2018 750ml](https://www.saratogawine.com/files/images/cached_thumbs/4c/4c678277dba04f7e857955ace5d3e062.jpg){kind=small}
750ml
Bottle:
$36.48
$38.40
Beautiful lemon, tangerine, honey, green herbs, and white flower notes emerge from the 2018 Carricante Bianco...
![Aeris [By Rhys] Carricante 'Centennial Mountain' 2018 750ml](https://www.saratogawine.com/files/images/cached_thumbs/d4/d4180ece6a416f3caebb31584f0eeba0.jpg)
750ml
Bottle:
$49.94
$54.00
The 2018 Carricante Centennial Mountain Vineyard is exotic, translucent and full of character. Lemon confit, orchard...
750ml
Bottle:
$17.94
12 bottles:
$17.58
Our Vouvray is stunning with its elegancy and freshness which carry through the ripe fruity palate, marrying with...
750ml
Bottle:
$59.90
$63.19
The 2021 Fire By Night, formerly known as Broom Ridge, has a lovely, seductive bouquet with mirabelle, jasmine and...
750ml
Bottle:
$22.40
12 bottles:
$21.95
Color: Yellow straw colored.
Nose: Floral with notes of grapefruit.
Taste: Excellent sapidity.
750ml
Bottle:
$16.20
$18.00
12 bottles:
$14.25
Crisp passion fruit and lemon leaf with a whiff of white pepper on the nose. The same flavours make an immediate...
750ml
Bottle:
$14.93
$16.66
Concentrated and ripe, this red offers blackberry, loganberry, dark chocolate and loam flavors, while dense tannins...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.58
$14.30
12 bottles:
$11.40
Dry, easy drinking wine with notes of quince, pear and granny smith apples.
750ml
Bottle:
$17.10
$18.00
12 bottles:
$14.25
Brilliant clear yellow. Seductive nose with lovely fruit aromas (pear, pineapple) and delicate floral notes. Smooth...
750ml
Bottle:
$34.84
Rated 95 -Year in, year out, this exceptional Chenin Blanc vineyard delivers the goods.... it produces a wine with...
750ml
Bottle:
$19.94
$20.88
12 bottles:
$19.54
The colour is ruby red, clear and transparent, with tinges of purple. The nose is fruity and winy. Full-body, rich...
1.5Ltr
Bottle:
$25.81
$27.17
6 bottles:
$16.68
The Basics This wine is meant to be enjoyed with a variety of foods, ranging from Asian to Mexican dishes. The Taste...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.43
$13.08
The Basics This wine is meant to be enjoyed with a variety of foods, ranging from Asian to Mexican dishes. The Taste...
750ml
Bottle:
$25.84
$28.80
100% Chenin Blanc. From 10-15-year-old, certified-organic vines on clay-limestone soils. Fermented to dryness (2...
750ml
Bottle:
$32.94
12 bottles:
$32.28
Rated 96 - Intense, stony and layered, it's a wine that builds on the palate, with effortless concentration, Loire...
750ml
Bottle:
$18.84
12 bottles:
$18.46
Purple colored with pronounced vinous to fruity aromas of red fruits, blueberry, raspberry. It is dry on the palate...
750ml
Bottle:
$33.28
12 bottles:
$32.61
Black cherry and blackberry fruit aromas lifted by floral and spice notes. Rich, ripe fruit on the palate, with a...
750ml
Bottle:
$75.60
12 bottles:
$74.09
Deep purple in color with aromas of plum, blackberry and cherry. The palate is round and warm with a hint of almond...
Carricante Chenin Blanc Dolcetto Mavrodaphne
Originating in France yet now grown in many parts of the New World, Chenin Blanc is one of the most versatile and highly regarded white wine grape varietals on earth. These green skinned grapes hold a relatively high acid content, and as such can be used for making still white wines of exceptional quality, as well as superb sparkling wines (such as the Crémant wines of the Loire Valley) and extremely aromatic dessert wines. Their natural transparency means that they are a fine grape for expressing their terroir in the bottle, and winemakers often experiment with this varietal to coax unusual and intense flavors from the grapes, such as allowing the development of noble rot on the fruit in order to make sweet and viscous wines of a unique character.
In Italian, Dolcetto means 'little sweet one' – a slightly misleading name, as the black grapes of this varietal have relatively little natural sugar and almost almost produce dry wines. However, the Dolcetto grapes are remarkably popular with those looking for a full, rounded and highly flavorful wine, and are grown extensively in their native Italy, and in many other countries around the world. Dolcetto varietal grapes tend to have quite a high level of tannin, due to their thick, black skins, and low acidity, resulting in interesting wines with a large feel in the mouth, despite being relatively light in body. They are most commonly associated with big, complex flavors such as liquorice and prunes, and are regularly described as having a finish similar to the flavor of bitter almonds.
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?