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Sparkling
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $16.71 $17.59
12 bottles: $12.35
This fun & light sparkling Unicorn Bubbles offers delicate flavors of fresh green apple and citrus with lively...
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Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $14.62 $16.25
12 bottles: $12.35
19 Crimes is defiant by nature, bold in character, and always uncompromising. We are proud to partner with...
Instore only
Sparkling
187ml
Bottle: $9.99
Aromas of fresh peaches leap from the glass along with hints of ginger and lilac. Once sipped, a shower of foamy...
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Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $9.53 $10.25
Aromas of fresh peaches leap from the glass along with hints of ginger and lilac. Once sipped, a shower of foamy...
Instore only
Sparkling
187ml
Bottle: $9.99
Vivacious and aromatic, this delicate Italian pale pink sparkler Is perfect for enjoying anytime. Notes of...
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $9.99
Vivacious and aromatic, this delicate Italian pale pink sparkler Is perfect for enjoying anytime. Notes of...
Rapid Ship
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $67.50
The 2019 Gracias Madre, 100% Grenache Noir, is fabulous. Rich, creamy and super-expressive, the 2019 offers notable...
12 FREE
VM
94
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.82
12 bottles: $44.90
The 2021 Grenache Bessan Vineyard is one of the more austere selections in this range. Fruit is very much pushed into...
12 FREE
VM
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $32.94
12 bottles: $32.28
• Practicing Organic. • 100% Grenache. • Sourced from Hofer Vineyard (Rancho Cucamonga AVA) 42 miles east of...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $28.93
12 bottles: $28.35
The Santa Barbara County Grenache was inspired by Fonsalette from Chateau Rayas. The wine represents two very...
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Red
750ml
Bottle: $41.87
12 bottles: $41.03
The 2021 Grenache Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard is one of the more ethereal and aromatic wines in this range....
12 FREE
VM
92
Red
750ml
Bottle: $44.93
12 bottles: $44.03
Fermented with 38% whole clusters, the 2020 Grenache Thompson Vineyard is more meaty and almost nutty, with ripe,...
12 FREE
JD
91
VM
90
Red
750ml
Bottle: $45.66
12 bottles: $44.75
Deceptive in its light-bodied structure, the 2021 Grenache Vie Caprice packs quite the punch. Darker tonalities of...
12 FREE
VM
93
Sparkling
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $202.94
3 bottles: $198.88
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $79.92
12 bottles: $78.32
The NV Brut Le Caractère M is 95% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Noir based on 2013, with a perpetual reserve dating back...
12 FREE
VM
94
WS
91
Sparkling
1.5Ltr
Bottle: $135.94
3 bottles: $133.22
The NV Brut Le Brut is another absolutely compelling wine in this range. Le Brut is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot...
VM
93
BH
91
Sparkling
375ml
Bottle: $26.84
12 bottles: $26.30
The NV Brut Le Brut is another absolutely compelling wine in this range. Le Brut is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot...
12 FREE
VM
93
BH
91
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $42.90 $46.00
The NV Brut Le Brut is another absolutely compelling wine in this range. Le Brut is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot...
VM
93
BH
91
Sparkling
375ml
Bottle: $40.00
12 bottles: $39.20
The NV Brut Rosé is positively stellar. The blend of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir (including 5% still Pinot)...
12 FREE
VM
93
WS
92

Champagne Blend Grenache Ice Wine Mavrodaphne

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.

The purple skinned grapes of the Grenache varietal have quickly become one of the most widely planted red wine grapes in the world, flourishing in several countries which have the correct conditions in which they can grow to ripeness. They thrive anywhere with a dry, hot climate, such as that found in central Spain and other such arid areas, and produce delightfully light bodied wines full of spicy flavors and notes of dark berries. Their robustness and relative vigor has led them being a favorite grape varietal for wineries all over the world, and whilst it isn't uncommon to see bottles made from this varietal alone, they are also regularly used as a blending grape due to their high sugar content and ability to produce wines containing a relatively high level of alcohol.

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?