×
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $19.35 $21.60
This is all about minerality and texture, although the crisp acidity accents orchard-fruit notes and makes it quite...
WE
89
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $27.95
12 bottles: $27.39
Zweigelt, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Zweigelt and Sauvignon Blanc from high-altitude plots next to a...
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $26.95
12 bottles: $26.41
Zweigelt and Cabernet Sauvignon. Zweigelt is grown on very cold vineyard site called Tanzer in Langenlois, primarily...
12 FREE
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $22.80 $24.00
12 bottles: $21.66
Müller Thurgau, Grüner Veltliner, and skins of Sauvignon Blanc. Grown in Merschein and Loiserberg, cold, late...
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $22.80 $24.00
12 bottles: $21.66
Grüner Veltliner, Gelber Muskateller, and skins of Gelber Muskateller. All grapes are pressed together. After...
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $26.95
12 bottles: $26.41
Welschriesling and Riesling from clay and crystalline topsoil. Welschriesling is whole bunch pressed, Riesling grapes...
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $24.00
12 bottles: $23.52
Müller Thurgau and Grüner Veltliner. From cold, late-ripening sites surrounded by forest. 100% skin fermented for...
Sparkling
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $86.94
6 bottles: $85.20
Here’s a decadent bubbly, as rich and layered as a croissant, with a similar balance of toasty, nutty notes and...
W&S
93
DC
90
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $39.20
Here’s a decadent bubbly, as rich and layered as a croissant, with a similar balance of toasty, nutty notes and...
W&S
93
DC
90
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $115.94
The SCHLOSS GOBELSBURG VINTAGE is only produced in special years. The bottles remain on the lees for at least 10...
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.94
The fine elegance of the Schloss Gobelsburg BRUT ROSÉ is a mirror of its originating charming landscape. The soft...
12 FREE
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $16.62 $17.49
12 bottles: $15.83
Light salmon colour with reddish gold play of light, fine, persistent mousseux, delicate, fresh and very animating...
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $24.94
12 bottles: $24.44
Szigeti seeks to produce wines in a fresh style with clear varietal expression. Gustav Klimt Adele Blanc de Blancs...
12 FREE
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $20.44
12 bottles: $19.00
The nose is shy, showing just a few herbal hints reminiscent of yarrow. Frothy bubbles, however, pronounce the...
WE
90
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $34.94
12 bottles: $34.24
Yeast, lemon and tart red berry on the nose promise freshness and body in equal measure. The palate adds to the...
12 FREE
WE
92
Case only
Sparkling
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $22.80
This Rosé Pet Nat reminds me on strawberries, rhubarb - especially on fresh, red fruits. This sparkling wine makes...

Champagne Blend Ice Wine Mavrodaphne Austria

The sparkling wines of Champagne have been revered by wine drinkers for hundreds of years, and even today they maintain their reputation for excellence of flavor and character, and are consistently associated with quality, decadence, and a cause for celebration. Their unique characteristics are partly due to the careful blending of a small number of selected grape varietals, most commonly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These grapes, blended in fairly equal quantities, give the wines of Champagne their wonderful flavors and aromas, with the Pinot Noir offering length and backbone, and the Chardonnay varietal giving its acidity and dry, biscuity nature. It isn't unusual to sometimes see Champagne labeled as 'blanc de blanc', meaning it is made using only Chardonnay varietal grapes, or 'blanc de noir', which is made solely with Pinot Noir.

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?

Archaeological evidence suggests that grapevines have been grown and cultivated in what is today modern Austria for over four thousand years, making it one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world. Over the centuries, relatively little has changed in Austrian wine, with the dominant grape varietals continuing to be Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt, Pinot Noir and others. Austria is renowned for producing excellent and characterful dry white wines, although in the eastern part of the country, many wineries specialist in sweeter white wines made in a similar style to those of neighboring Hungary. Today, Austria has over fifty thousand hectares under vine, split over four key wine regions. The domestic wine industry remains strong, with Austrians drinking their local produce outside in the summer, and people around the world are beginning to once more rediscover this fascinating and ancient wine culture.