Mavrodaphne (wine)
Mavrodaphne ( Greek Μαυροδάφνη Mavrodafni 'black laurel'; also Mavrodaphne of Patras or Mavrodaphni Patras) is a red, lightly fortified Greek sweet wine , which is mainly made in the area around Patras from grapes of the autochthonous vine of the same name . In addition to the white Samos from the island of the same name, Mavrodaphne is the best-known Greek sweet wine.
history
This wine became known through the Bavarian berry wholesaler Gustav Clauss, who acquired some land in the Patras area in the 1850s and had vines planted there, or who improved existing vineyards. In accordance with the taste of his time, he made his wines sweet and fortified them slightly. During maturation and aging , he used the Solera system from Spain . There was so much demand for this wine very soon that Clauss switched entirely to winemaking, bought additional goods and finally founded the Achaia Clauss winery in 1861 , which is still one of the largest wineries in Greece today. It is unclear whether Clauss introduced innovative vinification methods in this area in addition to the Solera process, or whether he fell back on existing traditions. In any case, wines of a similar type were produced on some Ionian Islands from ancient times, especially on Kefalonia . There, too, the Mavrodaphne is the carrier of the sweet wines that are sometimes blended with the Korinthiaki .
Wine characteristics
The Mavrodaphne is a voluminous, dense, usually 15 percent by volume not too alcoholic liquor wine with a bright velvet red to reddish brown color. In addition to the mostly well-preserved, often somewhat tannin-accentuated red wine characteristics, plum aromas dominate, sometimes also vanilla tones. In successful products, the sweetness is never fat and intrusive, but is well balanced by a light acidic structure. This wine is very popular in Germany, but especially in England. Accordingly, sticky-sweet products often come onto the market in supermarkets, which, although they meet the taste of a wide range of buyers, do not meet higher demands. However, carefully vinified and adequately aged wines can be appealing, and at times even remarkable. As an aperitif , the Mavrodaphne should be drunk at around white wine temperature (11–15 ° C), as an accompaniment to coffee and cake at a slightly lower temperature.
literature
- Stephen Brook: Liquid Gold. Dessert Wines of the World. Constable, London 1987, ISBN 0-09-466920-1 (English).
- Horst Dippel (ed.): The wine lexicon. Special edition. Gondrom, Bindlach 1994, ISBN 3-8112-1114-5 .
- F. Paul Pacult: Kindred Spirits. The Spirit Journal Guide to the World's Distilled Spirits and Fortified Wines. Hyperion Books, New York NY 1997, ISBN 0-7868-8172-0 (English).
- Roger Voss: The Simon & Schuster Pocket Guide to Fortified and Dessert Wines. Simon & Schuster, New York NY 1989, ISBN 0-671-67800-0 (English).
