This is one of many tasting notes I’ve been wanting to share with you for a while.  Unfortunately, I put my tasting notes in one of those “safe” places and uh, just located them a couple of days ago. Following teething shenanigans from Baby Girl and a lot of great client work, I’m now able to get back to a wine post – yay!

Guess when we opened this 19-year old (at the time of drinking) bottle of wine? Christmas! We thought it would be the perfect finish to our Christmas dinner. We enjoyed it with Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for pear crisps with vanilla brown butter.  It was spectacular.

15 year old Mavrodaphne

So first, a little history about the wine. Wining Husband, once upon an undergraduate career, was a classics major. He went to study over in Greece. He came back with some Greek wine. This is one of those bottles. He had it in his personal cellar when we met, and he’d been saving it for a special occasion. Well, this past Christmas was such an occasion. 

What is Mavrodaphni? 

Mavrodaphne (also spelled Mavrodafni) is a sweet, port-like dessert wine. This appellation is probably the best-known coming out of Greece. It’s grown in Petras, and it’s one of those heavily produced wines. That means that while you can find some very good Mavrodaphni (just as you can find some very good Chardonnay or Merlot) you can also find some very bad Mavrodaphni. The bottle Wining Husband had of this fortified wine happened to be very good. 

About Achaia Clauss

Wining Husband visited the Achaia Clauss winery while in Greece. It is one of the older wine companies, first founded in 1854. Gustav Clauss, the founder, began by making wine for himself and his friends, before he built the winery in 1861 and began bottling Mavrodaphni wine in 1873. Since then, they’ve become the largest producer and exporter of Greek wines.

1995 Achaia Clauss Mavrodaphne Tasting notes

We filtered and decanted the wine, since it had a lot of sediment in it. It had a lovely, rich tawny color to it, only enhanced as it aerated through the filter. There was a hint of maraschino cherry on the nose. Upon tasting, it was quite sweet – and full-bodied. This was a very creamy wine. It had a plum/prune finish that was a nice balance to the sweetness. After swirling the wine, you could smell the heat on it – this was definitely an alcoholic wine. It had aged very well, and you could still pick up the vanilla nutmeg, and cinnamon in the wine. 

Where to find Mavrodaphne in the U.S. 

You may find this varietal in some Mediterranean grocery stores, but your best bet if you live in a state allowing for wine deliveries is to order it online.  Here are some resources (note, these are affiliate links. If you click on them and decide to purchase, I will be compensated).

• Cavino Mavrodaphne Petras Deus
• Gentelini Eclipse
• Mercouri Estate Daphne Nera