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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...
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...
Sale
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
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
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.93 $52.00
12 bottles: $49.40
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
Sale
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $49.93 $54.00
Light, green-tinged yellow. Lively aromas of mineral-accented citrus and orchard fruits are complicated by suave...
12 FREE
VM
92
WA
91
Sparkling
375ml
Bottle: $27.95
12 bottles: $27.39
The NV Cuvée Le Demi-Sec is a very pretty, attractive Champagne. Even with 32 grams of residual sugar, the Demi-Sec...
VM
91
W&S
90
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $43.93
12 bottles: $41.80
The NV Cuvée Le Demi-Sec is a very pretty, attractive Champagne. Even with 32 grams of residual sugar, the Demi-Sec...
12 FREE
VM
91
W&S
90
Sale
Sparkling
12 FREE
Sparkling
375ml
Bottle: $28.90
12 bottles: $28.32
White cherry, almond biscotti and mandarin orange peel notes are set in this bright Champagne, framed by firm acidity...
12 FREE
WS
90
Sparkling
750ml
Bottle: $88.08
6 bottles: $84.00
12 FREE

Champagne Blend Mavrodaphne Moschofilero Mencia

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?

Greece has many AOC regions, each with their own signature grape varietal which is cultivated and processed to an exceptionally high degree of excellence. The AOC of Mantinia on the beautiful expansive plateau of the Peloponnese has the Moschofilero varietal, a gray colored white variety which produces exceptional Blanc de Gris wines. A delicate grape, highly sensitive to adverse weather conditions, it is nonetheless prized by wine makers for its unique attributes and the quality of the wine which can be made from it. Although commonly compared to western European Muscat wines, the Moschofilero grapes produce wine which is in a league of its own – full of floral aromas containing heavy, almost soporific notes of rose petals and violets. The flavor of the wine tends to be spicy, and leans more towards earthy mineral flavors rather than fruit ones, making it perfect as an aperitif or coupled with salty olives and cheeses.

Moschofilero wines tend to be elegant and subtle, with their strength being in their crispness, and the bouquet of floral aromas rising from the glass. The finest Moschofilero wines to come out of Greece in recent decades have included the Tselopos, whose high altitude vineyards have seemingly mastered the potential and complexity of this gray grape to international acclaim.

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?