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Case only
White
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $44.40
Complex and aromatic with ripe citrus, peach tea, and baked apple. Fennel frond, dried tarragon and white pepper...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.00
12 bottles: $12.74
White
750ml
Bottle: $18.80
12 bottles: $17.86
100% Xarel·lo fermented with indigenous yeasts in tank. Twice-weekly batonnage for a further 3 months in tank before...
White
750ml
Bottle: $35.94
• 100% Xarel-lo Vermell from the Politxonada vineyard. • A soft pressing is followed by spontaneous fermentation...
12 FREE
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $23.46
Aromas of meyer lemon, honeycomb, and orange blossom with flinty minerality. Medium bodied with bright vegetal...
12 FREE
Red
750ml
Bottle: $21.20
12 bottles: $20.78
• 100% Mavrodaphne. • Low yielding vines from loamy clay soils. • Fermented and aged in stainless steel.
Case only
Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $25.01
Deep purple color with crimson highlights. Elegant floral nose with peony and violet flowers along with the typical...
12 FREE
White
750ml
Bottle: $27.95
12 bottles: $27.39
This lovely Xarel-lo comes from one of its best terroirs in the Alt Penedés. Ramón Porera works here with two...
12 FREE
DC
93
White
750ml
Bottle: $21.95
12 bottles: $21.51
100% Xarel-lo. Vines are grown in chalk and clay soils from the Sant Pere and Canyes vineyards. Grapes are farmed...
12 FREE

Mavrodaphne Xarel-lo

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?