Mild vinification involves spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel tanks with native yeasts and leaving the fermented wine in contact with the fine lees for 7 months. As the name of the variety suggests, Zakynthino travelled years ago from Zakynthos - where it is known as Pavlos - to Kefalonia. This is where the similarities end, as both in terms of...
Spyros Chrysos' contemporary perspective on the traditional wine style of Santorini keeps alive the interest in Nychteri, a wine that modern legislation has chosen to treat quite differently from its historical past. Taking as a starting point two excellent vineyard plots in the area of "Loura" in the village of Pyrgos (perhaps the most famous vineyard on...
Nerello Mascalese gives excellent rosés and Marco de Grazia's Etna Rosato from younger vines in different parts of the estate is a rosé that is etched in the memory. A real firework of intensity and minerality, it's not unlike the playground and candied fruit that comes to mind when it comes to rosé wines. With pulsating energy and tensions, salty...
Etna Bianco was first put into production in 2005 and Carricante is the dominant variety in the blend with a percentage of 70% depending on the year. Carricante is a grape defined by the minerality and saltiness of the terroir. A feast of other field-blends such as Catarratto, Grecanico and Inzolia make up the rest of the wine. Etna's whites are still...
The spicy, salty, orange-tinged character of Tradition Rose is a departure from a mainstream world that wants rosés in a certain style. The almost forgotten Tibouren, an ancient grape of the Mediterranean basin, is a "champion" for the estate and covers over 50% of the total plantings. In Cuvee Tradition it constitutes 90% of the blend and after maturing...
Facing such a great terroir you can only stand in awe and respect. The effort to minimize interventions is aimed at enhancing the potential of the old vineyards. They seem to unfold their "memories" in the wine, giving great complexity and absolute balance. Without excesses, but full-bodied and rich, with charmingly ripe fruit along with multiple aromatic...
The movement was so natural, so exquisite in its gentleness, it wasn't until I opened my eyes that I understood my limbs were touching only air. I was not far off the ground - no more than an inch or two- but I hung there without effort, suspended like the moon in the night sky, motionless and aloft, conscious only of the air fluttering in an out of my lungs. I can't say how long I hovered like that, but at a certain moment, with the same slowness and gentleness as before, I eased back to the ground.
