Mavrodaphne of Patras

On Friday night, Todd and I headed out to the Holy Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church and the annual Greek Food Festival.

I gave a fairly complete picture (or, rather, several of them) of the night over on Nibbles, yesterday, but I glossed over our wine selection–on purpose! I was saving a little something for Sips.

In previous years we haven’t gone into the Taverna for whatever reason but this year it was on my definite to-do list. We weren’t much interested in the beer or ouzo, but I wanted to see what was different about Greek wine.

Well, they weren’t doing actual tastings and even though the $4 a glass price wasn’t too bad, tasting 4 wines at the end of the night probably wasn’t the best idea. So we chatted with the guy manning the counter and he was pushing us a bit towards the whites (one of which had a piney taste? I’ll stick to gin for drinking trees, I think) but when we saw the sales sheet listed a sweet red, I just had to try it.

Our would-be wine steward wasn’t sure I knew what I wanted, though, and insisted I take a little sip before he poured me an actual glass.

Oh. My. Yes.

The wine is Mavrodaphne of Patras Kourtaki and the first thing my tongue told me was Yum! The flavor is described as dried fruit–figs, prunes, raisins–and reminds me of some ports I’ve tasted, yet it doesn’t appear to be a fortified wine. It’s definitely sweet, a great dessert choice and one that you’ll want to sip slowly.

I know I’ll be checking my local wine shops to see if they carry it, this is one I want to keep on hand!