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750ml
Bottle:
$51.07
$51.79
6 bottles:
$51.00
From Adi Badenhorst, Swartland's savoury, mineral and meaty tones chime though here, the fruit taken from a single...
750ml
Bottle:
$19.20
12 bottles:
$18.82
Cinsault and Pais.
750ml
Bottle:
$24.90
$27.60
Cinsault from the historic Bechtold Vineyard in the Mokelumne River AVA of Lodi. The twenty-five acre own-rooted...
500ml
Bottle:
$44.75
12 bottles:
$43.85
The style encapsulates a fine, aged tawny, showing rich concentration as well as a touch of spirit and luscious...
500ml
Bottle:
$85.59
12 bottles:
$83.88
Juicy and fresh in feel, with a mix of cherry, peach and plum notes mingled with green tea and incense notes. Mostly...
750ml
Bottle:
$19.74
12 bottles:
$19.35
A smooth, medium-bodied Port that delivers fresh, fruit-forward boysenberry and plum flavors with a nice touch of...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.50
$15.00
12 bottles:
$11.12
Partially fermenting red grapes on the skins, then stopping the fermentation with the addition of fine brandy...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.43
12 bottles:
$13.16
Simply delicious Melon de Bourgogne! Just the right amount of acidity and final dryness to keep it well balanced....
750ml
Bottle:
$11.94
$13.43
12 bottles:
$11.52
Chateau de la Chesnaie is a family owned estate dedicated to the production of high quality Muscadet. This wine is...
750ml
Bottle:
$12.94
$14.30
12 bottles:
$12.35
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 30-year-old Muscadet vines planted on a gentle slope of sandy/silty soils overlaid on a...
750ml
Bottle:
$15.94
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
750ml
Bottle:
$15.41
12 bottles:
$15.10
Certified HVE3*. Sourced from 40-year-old Muscadet vines planted in shallow soils of disintegrated mica/schist....
750ml
Bottle:
$11.94
$12.57
Clean tasting with crisp acidity and a bright, fresh minerality. This is an excellent Muscadet, light and refreshing....
750ml
Bottle:
$77.11
$85.68
6 bottles:
$68.40
Blend dominated by Touriga Franca (41%) and Touriga Nacional (37%). Mainly picked eight days after the mid-September...
750ml
Bottle:
$18.32
$19.28
12 bottles:
$12.79
Comfortable in any setting, our ultra-adaptable Fine Ruby has a bright and fruity style that mixes as easily as it...
750ml
Bottle:
$13.99
And if you don’t, you need to know. Our Fine Tawny has fervent fans around the world who love it for its...
Cinsault Mavrodaphne Melon de Bourgogne Port Blend
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?
One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.
Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.
Port wine is Portugal’s great gift to the world. Coming from the ancient harbour capital city of Porto and the surrounding Douro Valley region, Port wine has been made by Portuguese vintners for at least four hundred years, although viticulture has been continually happening in the area for well over two thousand years. Port is a fortified wine, meaning it is a wine which has been bolstered by the addition of grape brandy. Originally, this was used as a method of preservation, allowing the delicate Portuguese wines to survive the journey by sea to trading partners in the UK and France. However, the wonderful taste and unique character the fortification process lends to the wine soon became massively popular, and before long, this new wine style was a hit all across Europe.
Unlike some other fortified wines, Port is made by adding brandy before the wine itself has completed its fermentation. The result of this is that plenty of the grapes’ natural sweetness is maintained in the barrel, meaning it is exceptionally smooth and rounded on the palate. Port comes in many different styles - Tawny Port wines are prized for their richness and mellow character, Reserve and Late Bottled Ports are full of fruit flavor. Vintage Port is a complex, wonderful thing - capable of standing up to some of the finest wines in the world when it comes to depth of flavor and fascinating features.