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Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $22.94 $23.60
6 bottles: $20.00
Among the better expressions from this vast, somewhat sclerotic Lugana region, evidencing many styles and...
JS
91
DC
90
White
750ml
Bottle: $40.49
6 bottles: $39.68
In the 1930s Manzoni Bianco was created by Prof. Luigi Manzoni, director of the renowned Conegliano Research Center,...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.93 $22.80
12 bottles: $21.49
The 1st vintage of Bianco di Ampeleia was 2016. A neighbor's vineyard had old vines of a local biotype of Trebbiano...
White
750ml
Bottle: $25.20
12 bottles: $24.70
White
750ml
Bottle: $36.72
6 bottles: $36.00
COLOR: Intense yellow in color. NOSE: Elderflower, citrus, musk, and almond. Floral fragrances gradually give way to...
12 FREE
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.94 $27.60
12 bottles: $22.80
White
750ml
Bottle: $17.50
12 bottles: $15.44
Arneis/Cortese/Sauvignon Blanc/Favorita/Vermentino. The name "Arcese" is a whimsical mash-up of Arneis and Cortese,...
White
750ml
Bottle: $26.95
12 bottles: $26.41
100% Moscato. From organically farmed estate vines averaging 30 years old, planted on south-southeast-facing slopes...
12 FREE
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $15.94
The typical aromas of the Sauvignon are tangy on the nose; sage, ripe peach, elderflower and green pepper. The Pinot...
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $16.68
The typical aromas of the Sauvignon are tangy on the nose; sage, ripe peach, elderflower and green pepper. The Pinot...
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $5.89
White
750ml
Bottle: $81.00
6 bottles: $79.80
This is another fantastic white and continues to be one of the best from Tuscany. It’s so perfumed with sliced...
12 FREE
JS
98
WA
95
White
750ml
Bottle: $82.88
6 bottles: $81.22
A solid white with dried pear, apple, cream and stone aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied with a beautiful core of...
12 FREE
JS
96
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.53
12 bottles: $19.14
Sliced-pear some red-apple aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with lemon zest and fresh pear on the finish....
12 FREE
JS
89
750ml
Bottle: $22.40
12 bottles: $21.28
• Primarily Garnacha with smaller complements of Bobal and Royal, from very old organically-farmed vineyards. •...
WA
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $61.50
6 bottles: $60.27
This has a pretty nose of jasmine, honeysuckle, white peach and melon. Medium-bodied with a ripe, creamy and juicy...
12 FREE
JS
91
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $27.39
Straw yellow color. Wine of great drinkability that finds its best weapons in freshness and elegance. The aromatic...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $20.95
12 bottles: $20.53
'Arancio' (meaning the color orange or an orange tree) is 70% Malvasia Toscana/Malvasia Romagnola, 27% Trebbiano...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.43
12 bottles: $13.16
Dolcemente's secret is the blend of the refined character of the Chardonnay with the fruitiness and sweetness of the...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $12.76 $13.43
12 bottles: $11.52
Dolcemente's secret is the blend of the refined character of the Chardonnay with the fruitiness and sweetness of the...

Grenache Italian White Blends Mavrodaphne Mencia

The Grenache grape holds the honor of being the most widely planted wine grape varietal on earth. It has a long and impressive history, and has been the backbone of the some of the planet’s most respected and famed wine regions, blended with Syrah in regions such as Chateauneuf du Pape, and in certain other Loire and Languedoc regions where it reigns supreme as a single varietal wine grape. In other key areas, such as Spain’s La Rioja (where it is known as Garnacha Tinta), it is blended with Tempranillo to make that country’s signature red wine, and is widely used as a blending grape in other old and new world countries, due to its unique character and jammy, fruit forward character.


For a long time, the Grenache grape was somewhat looked down upon as an ignoble varietal, incapable of producing wines of any particular interest. However, times are very much changing - in the right hands, Grenache grapes result in astonishingly intense and complex wines, full of fascinating features, and capable of achieving plenty of expression. For a while now, Grenache has been a major player in Australian wines. While not yet quite as extensively planted down under as Shiraz is, the Barossa Valley is bringing out some of the finest examples of this grape’s wines in recent years.

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?