We often wonder if there is another wine that, on a global level, has a clearer connection with its place than retsina. What is shocking, however, is that with 1979 Wines' Kallos, retsina takes on a different dimension, that of a quality icon not only for this particular category but for Greek wine as a whole. Hardly any other wine will manage to awaken...
Let's leave marketing gimmicks aside and focus on the essence. The two micro-vinifications by Kallos of 1979 Wines are two excitingly different and extremely high-quality expressions of retsina. In the first stage, the research highlighted the purity and complexity of the aromas that come from sustainably harvested resin. In the second stage, focusing on...
The Jura region remains faithful to its traditions, producing wines that delight connoisseurs, with their oxidative character being their main feature. Tissot's Savagnin Sous Voilé is an extremely interesting wine, with mild oxidation, aged for 32 months in 228-liter barrels without complete filling and always with Tissot's philosophy of minimal...
85% Malbec and 15% Merlot to bring down the youthful "rigor" of the blend from organically cultivated vineyards on gravel and limestone soils with clay. The grapes are vinified in stainless steel tanks at relatively high temperatures with very careful cap breaking, and each individual vineyard plot after being vinified separately will be blended in the...
The stunning field blend vineyards are located in the tiny isolated village of Santa Ovaia (where the winery is located) and harbour classic Portuguese "values" such as Fernão Pires, Bical, Malvasia-Fina and Encruzado among other varieties. The 500m altitude and the 45-65 year old vines on granitic soils give the wine both freshness and depth. The...
What a great label. It's worth a thousand words and captures at once what Dão really is. A wall made of granite, the rock of the mountains of the region and the figure of an old woman walking with the help of a cane but with great courage and determination. How better to describe the Portuguese countryside and the dedication of people like João Costa to...
Loureiro is the most important variety for the Vinho Verde region and in Paiva's hands it is celebrated. Portugal's first biodynamic winery doesn't stop its approach just there but takes a minimalist approach to the winery where it doesn't cloud its wines at all. He protects them by adding ground chestnut blossoms from his estate to the must, an idea that...
How can you find the perfect harmony in such a light wine? And yet this is the hallmark of Quinta da Palmirinha wines. Palmirinha Azal is a benchmark for the region, elegance of aromas, freshness, lightness but not lightness of style, and uniqueness in character. A wine for which it is difficult to put into words its aromatic and flavour dimension. It...
If anyone can care for and grow healthy grapes in a climate so heavily influenced by the Atlantic, it is none other than Fernardo Paiva. The pioneer of biodynamic farming in Portugal is a true phenomenon in the way he manages not only the vineyard but also his wines in the winery. Since 2007 he hasn't put in sulphites which he has replaced with his...
