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.

Malagousia

Malagousia is an aromatic white variety grown primarily in Central Greece and Greek Macedonia. The variety was rescued from near extinction in 1983 by the winemaker Evangelos Gerovassiliou, after he planted out his vineyard at Epanomi, on the Halkidiki peninsula, with the variety. Malagousia is best known for its citrus and peach characteristics, often showing various melon flavours on the palate. It is often used as a blending agent, most notably with Assyrtiko, to which it adds middle body weight.

Moschofilero

Anyone in pursuit of a Greek grape variety which promises refreshment and enlivenment, all the while offering exoticism unprecedented in a Mediterranean country, should look no further than Moschofilero: it automatically springs to mind. Just as “moscho”, the first part of its name, promises this charismatic grape is the most aromatic one of the fileri grape family. Despite the reddish or grayish hue of its berries it is mostly used for the production of dry whites and some sparkling wines.

Explosive, surprising, and replete with freshness, Moschofilero inundates the senses, leading them in its unique way to a plane of euphoria and joy whether it is enjoyed as an apéritif or acts as companion to elegant dishes. Those who stay forever young in knowledge and mood regardless of their biological age will find in Moschofilero the ticket to a magic journey! Those who consider themselves among the connoisseurs of wine will entrust in Moschofilero their rest and recreation, conspiratorially smiling at this captivating variety all the while.

Producer

Barafakas

Young winemaker Christos Barafakas with a degree in Agriculture returned to his family’s 14-hectare large vineyard in Nemea and established his winery in 2002. He has been one of the few new producers, who expressed the Agiorgitiko variety in fresh styles, without the use of ageing wooden barrels. His vineyard plots have a varying altitude between 280 and 600m above sea level, with plants ranging in age between 5 to 45 years and overall low yields, 6-9 t/ha. Although generally straightforward and practical in his approach, he has created some unique wines, such as “Thousand Years”, a blend of Agiorgitiko and Cabernet Sauvignon, suitable for ageing in the cellar and the boutique Phylacto, sun-dried Assyrtiko in very limited quantities, a “mini-Vinsanto” (with a twist, as aged in acacia barrels) to be found outside Santorini.