Grape

Vostilidi/Goustolidi

Vostilidi or Gustolidi is a unique ancient Greek variety, which has survived from Homeric times under the name of the divine, to take its present name from time to time, from its vintage in August. Its many exotic tannins for white grapes lead us to the theory that his old ancestor was a red variety or that it is an ancestor of red varieties! Bottled wine has grown generations and generations of producers in Lixouri and the wider Kefalonian land, who drank it at home or in the tavern (and still drink it) oxidized! His mixing – until today – of some with drinking water, restores and answers the question of why the ancients drank their wine well!

Robola

Robola, the variety’s Italian-sounding name, together with its cultivation in the Ionian Islands located close to Italy, have led some to claim that the Robola grape variety is actually the same with the Ribolla Gialla variety cultivated in northeastern Italy. Whatever the case may be, striking differences between the two do exist, rendering Robola a truly unique and highly promising variety both in terms of morphology and taste. If properly cultivated and vinified, the grapes of Robola reward the effort in the best way imaginable, yielding dry white wines of refined character and expressing beautifully their terroir of origin. Overall, Robola is elegant and capable of offering a sophisticated “goût de terroir” character which, at a time of globalized tastes, will certainly strike a sensitive chord with lovers of culture and wine.

Producer

Melissinos

Reviving the family estate at Ano Thiramona, at the southern part of the island of Cephalonia, the winery has experimented with the indigenous varieties of the island, some of which, if not totally forgotten, have certainly become neglected over time. Mount Aenos, in the middle of the island, divides Kefalonia into its northern and southern parts, creating many different microclimates, even at short distances. The volcanic character of the island and the peninsula of Paliki offer even more variety in the soil morphology and composition. Last but not least in importance effect over the quality of Cephalonian wine is the delayed advent of phylloxera on the island (1970) and the preservation of old own-rooted vineyards. The winery promotes this varietal diversity and reveals the natural potential of the local grapes by producing high-quality wines with minimum intervention in a limited number of bottles. Their Mavrodaphne wines come from autochthonous ungrafted plants of the local and superior island clone.