Grapes

Assyrtiko

Assyrtiko is by far Greece’s most renowned white grape variety, associated most famously with the volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. Following its notable success, it is now grown successfully all over Greece and beyond in Clare Valley, Australia, South Africa and California, being the first Greek grape to become international. It has developed a reputation as being a versatile grape variety, producing wines in a multitude of styles, from fresh, mineral white wines to oaked, worth keeping ones and from bold complex reds to rıch matured dessert wines, such as Vinsanto.

Compact clusters of large, moderately thick-skinned berries, late budding and late ripening. Vigorous and productive, resistant to drought, disease and wind and capable of maintaining high acidity up to the final stages of the ripening period. In Santorini it is trained in the characteristic baskets, sitting close to the ground and named “kouloures” by the locals.

Xinomavro

This is the shining star of the Greek vineyard! An intriguing grape, that needs good care when growing and though it might be susceptible to wet weather in the vineyard, when healthy, harvested appropriately and treated with focus in the winery hits admirable heights of body and complexity. Moreover and thanks also to its tight tannins and high acidity, it is suitable for long ageing. If you are a cellar fanatic, there is no better Greek grape to invest your patience on. It is obvious from Xinomavro wines of 30 or more years of age available today, that the potential of slow transformation of flavours, increasing complexity and better integration with time is huge.

Producer

Domaine Karanika

Domaine Karanika aims to produce the finest quality sparkling and still wines in total harmony with nature without any concession to the health of people and the earth. Their organic/ biodynamic vineyards at the Amyndeo plateau in the far North-west of Greece include old to very old ungrafted Xinomavro vines, the younger Assyrtiko and the almost forgotten Limniona. 

Karanika’s winemaking philosophy is that real quality is achieved only when there is complete balance in all aspects of the growing and winemaking process. This includes minimal handling of grapes and wines with few to none chemical additions. They follow nature, instead of trying to control it. That means: no pumping to transport must and wines, but gravity, piegage, adding only sulfites and Montmorillonite clay to the wine, and the use of ‘homeopathic’ sprays in the vineyard instead of fertilisers and pesticides.