12 / 18 December 

“On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming 
Eleven pipers piping
Ten lords a-leaping 
Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids-a-milking
Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five gold rings
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree”.

Papargyriou Le Roi des Montagnes 2017 

We picked a bold, complementary, as well as contrasting wine to our earlier #11 for closure this year. Yet, count for certain commonalities, like the harvest year (2017) - a very good year overall for Greek wine & a good reason for a mini horizontal comparison - both come from family wineries with strict winemaking standards with fruit coming solely from owned and self farmed vineyards. To keep things interesting, we moved south, in one of the most dramatic vineyards of Greece, high (and steep) altitude one, north facing and overlooking one of the most turbulent bays of the country, the Corinthian Bay.

The winery was founded by father Aristeidis, who planted his first vines in 1978 with the aim to produce distinctive wines. His work has been brilliantly continued by his son, agronomist Giannis, assisted closely by daughter Elpida & daughter in law Helene. The winery owns currently vineyards at two sites in north-western Corinthia with impressive altitudes, up to 900m. Those high and breezy vineyards are perfect for the cultivation of the noble, dark coloured and slow ripening varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Mavrodaphne & Touriga Nacional. This Cuvée is indeed a great work of craftsmanship by Giannis and a clear expression of his winemaking style.

Cabernet Sauvignon led, with equally bold varieties in support, highly extracted & matured carefully in French oak for 24 months, this wine is both juicy and contemplative. At 15% alcohol, no discounts in taste impact, depth or finish are to be found here. Deeply coloured in ruby and garnet tones and loaded with compact black fruit flavours, plums, dried Corinthian raisins, chocolate, aromatic, fruity coffee with layers of caramel, sweet tobacco box and ink, bottled unfined and unfiltered, this wines makes a very powerful statement. Ideal for your T-bones, game dishes and mature hard cheese boards, even you lush chocolate treats!