This is from the 2020 wine fair in Platanias, near Chania. Wines of Crete organise this event every year and its a great experience. Its a great place to try out Cretan wines.
At last, a good Cretan sparkling wine!
First of all, at last a really good Cretan dry sparkling wine. This is from Douloufakis, a winery south of Iraklion, and the current offering is vintage 2016. Its made by the traditional champagne process, with second fermentation in the bottle in 2017. Its matured in the bottle and was released last year. It’s a difficult process to get right, but Nikos Douloufakis has done it!
Best red wines in Crete?!
We continue to be impressed by the quality of the red wines from Daskalakis.
Mother and daughter are key figures here, creating the most splendid Cretan wines, with vintages going back to 2012.
There is the magnificent Enstikto (means “instinct”). Its a deep red wine, with heady aromas, a blend of the local Kotsifali with the noble Syrah. This is so deep, full of dark plummy fruit, with a peppery aftertaste that seems to last for ever!
More young talent in the Wines Business
A new find is the Klados winery near Rethymno. This family run winery was started by Manolis, an oeneologist, in 1997. 10 years later they were able to upgrade to modern wine making technology.
As Stelios, son of the owner, says, they specialise in the famous Rethymnian Vidiano grape variety. Their “Great Hawk” is a blend of Vidiano and the perfumed floral Muscat grape. With these two grapes they have produced a beautiful citrus nosed fresh and fruity wine with good body.
A lovely new winery to visit in the Rethymnon area
Another winery close to Rethymnon is Kourkoulou Winery, a new winery started by brother and sister. Meanwhile the vines are looked after by their father.
This is set near to the Patsos Gorge close to the Amari dam. Including a visit to this winery…
…there is a lovely day drive to the Amari valley taking in the Potamos dam and Taverna Aravanes in Thronos.
With only 30 minutes on the red grape skins, they’ve produced a delightful delicate orange-pink rosé. This makes a light and refreshing drink on warm summer evenings.
Their Liatiko will make an easy drinking reds. For red wine lovers its sometimes difficult to find wines which fit with the hot summer days of the Mediterranean. But with this Liatiko, or perhaps the vintage but still light Kotsifali/Liatiko blend from Daskalakis, satisfy this need.
Perfect cellar conditions help to keep the wine
Being partly underground the basement temperature varies little throughout the year. This makes a basement the ideal place to store your Cretan wines!
With the wonderful scenery all around Crete, and the fine local wines you will be tempted!
More about living in Crete
More about living in Crete
There is much more in our blogs. These show things to do in Crete, whether it be walking a gorge, hiking in the foothills of the White Mountains, or taking a drive to see the sites. Chania is a great town to visit, particularly to go to the street markets, and of course you’ll want to get the benefits of the Cretan diet – be it the yoghurt and cheese, or the olive oil.