Mavrodaphni, Mavrodaphne, or Mavrodafni (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μαυροδάφνη ''lit.'' 'black laurel') is both a black

wine grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

Mavrodaphni

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung Gei ...

, accessed 2018-12-04

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

to the Achaea region in Northern Peloponnese,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, and the sweet, fortified wine first produced from it by Gustav Clauss in around 1850.

Winemaking

Mavrodaphni is initially vinified in large vats exposed to the sun. Once the wine reaches a certain level of maturity, fermentation is stopped by adding distillate prepared from previous vintages. Then the Mavrodaphni distillate and the wine, still containing

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, wh ...

, is transferred to the underground cellars to complete its maturation. There it is "educated" by contact with older wine using the

solera ''Solera'' is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many ...

method of serial blending. Once aged, the wine is bottled and sold as a

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

under the Mavrodaphni Protected designation of origin.

Wine

Mavrodaphni is a dark, almost opaque wine with a dark purple reflected

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

and a purple-brown transmitted color. It presents aromas and flavors of caramel, chocolate, coffee, raisins and plums.

History

Mavrodaphne literally means "black laurel". The name was chosen by Gustav Clauss, the founder of the

Achaia Clauss Achaia Clauss is a Greek winery located in Patras in the Peloponnese. It was founded in 1861 by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss. It is most famous for its fortified red wine, Mavrodaphne. The winery was the main sponsor of the local basketball team, ...

winery, because of the berries' resemblance to those of the

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

,Harold J. Grossman, ''Grossman's Guide to wines, spirits & beers'', 1940, p. 151 though there are various stories about a lover, fiancée, or wife named Daphne, who had black eyes or who died.Susanna Hoffman, ''The Olive and the Caper: Adventures in Greek Cooking'', 2004, p. 511

References

External links

CHRIS Distillery

Mavrodaphne of Patras CHRIS
{{wines Fortified wine Grape varieties of Greece Red wine grape varieties Greek wine appellations Peloponnese wine Economy of Patras Culture in Patras