Mavrodaphne of Patras

This is a bottle of Mavrodaphne of Patras, a port-like sweet wine from Northern Peleponese in Greece. The wine is made from the eponymous grape blended with Korinthiaki and has its fermentation stopped using spirit distilled from wines of the previous vintages. It is then aged in oak via a solera type system. However, it is vinified in large vats exposed to the sun and becomes a little oxidized in style, somewhat like Madeira.

The second grape in this blend is the grape that is dried to give currants (Zante currants in American usage). The dried vine fruit is often referred to as raisins de Corinthe, which became corrupted as currants. The dried fruit is totally unrelated to the Ribes fruits, red- and black- currants. The grape itself was one of the oldest recorded varieties being described by Pliny the Elder in 75AD.