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Merlot 2021: How Does Greece Compare Internationally?

Greek Merlot 2021 in an international line-up: how do Greece's best compare with Pomerol, Tuscany and friends? All scores and verdicts from our blind tasting.

Griechische Weine

Apr 1723 min read

Great Wine? Small Price?

Skouras Megas Oenos 2019, tasted blind against five of the region's best-value Bordeaux. Who wins? There are wines you drink more out of respect for their history than out of sheer enthusiasm. Skouras Megas Oenos has long belonged in that category for me. For years it served as something of an unofficial ambassador for Greek wine – proof that Greece could produce serious, internationally competitive reds, not just retsina. The story is well known and often told: George Skoura

Griechische Weine

Mar 3015 min read

My Picture of Cretan Wine: A Mosaic of Bottles

Crete's wine culture stretches back over 4,000 years and is currently experiencing a fascinating renaissance. In this article, I'd like to offer a snapshot of some developments as I see them. I'll do so by pointing to wines I've had in my glass recently – wines that, taken together, paint a picture of where Cretan wine stands right now. This is, mind you, not a systematic survey – more of a mosaic, assembled from the bottles that have lingered longest in my memory over the pa

Griechische Weine

Mar 3020 min read

Xinomavro Masterclass

Our systematic Xinomavro exploration: from Naoussa to Amyndeo and Rapsani, dozens of wines tasted, scored and compared.

Griechische Weine

Nov 1, 202415 min read

The Best Greek Merlots for Grey Autumn Days

The grey autumn fog has now well and truly replaced the late-summer sun. Let that be our cue today to turn to warming red wines from Greece. We will be looking at several Merlot wines we have tasted recently. (On this, see also last year's article (in German).) Mind you – this much we will reveal up front – these are by no means always alcohol bombs that set your chest ablaze … Greece has genuine variety to offer in that regard. ΡΟΕΣ 2020 / Ombre 2022 from Oinotropai Estate B

Griechische Weine

Oct 26, 202310 min read

Pearls of Santorini

Recently, in the course of a late summer that reached into October, we had the pleasure of tasting three exceptional wines from Mikra Thira. This week the results of the “50 Great Greek Wines” competition were published, and all three of them were on the list. A good moment, then, to share our own impressions. The basics on the grape – taste, Santorini versus the mainland, food pairings – can be found in our big Assyrtiko guide. 1. Mikra Thira – Santorini Assyrtiko 2021 Produ

Griechische Weine

Oct 23, 20233 min read

13 4 5

Two wines from one monastic cellar – and only one nails Limnio

Metochi Mylopotamos Epifanis 2016 vs Mylopotamos Red 2017 – Mount Athos | 93 vs 88/100 🍷

Our article on Limnio – from Aristotle to the Greek wine revolution – has just gone live, and with it the notes from the tasting behind it, from April 2025. Two of those bottles came from Metochi Mylopotamos (@metochi.mylopotamos), the small organic winery of the Holy Cell of St Eustathios, a dependency of Megisti Lavra, the oldest monastery on the Holy Mountain. Winemaking here dates back to before 973 AD; after a long period of decline, the monk Epiphanios drove the revival of the vineyards from 1990 on – today around 5 hectares, farmed organically.

The Epifanis 2016 (14.8%) is the monastery's flagship and, going by the best vintage-specific sources, most likely 100% Limnio – a probability, mind you, not a label claim. Fascinating nose of plum with earthy undertones; on the palate an excellent acidity that carries the wine a very long way, very fine but present tannin gliding across the whole mouth, good salinity, a long herbal finish. An excellent introduction to the strengths of the variety – and the best monovarietal Limnio portrait of the entire tasting.

The Mylopotamos Red 2017 (14%) blends Limnio with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Beguilingly sweet nose of blossoms and sweet red fruits, and pleasingly good acidity that keeps it fresh and balanced – but the finish is short and disappointing.

The pure Limnio shows what the grape can do; the cuvée shows where it gets diluted: 93 vs 88/100.

More in our article on this tasting – link in bio.

Pure Limnio or the international blend – which glass first? 👇

#GreekWine #Limnio #MountAthos #GreekRedWine #MonasteryWine

This Cretan grape usually needs a partner. Not here.

Lyrarakis Kotsifali Queen 2023 – Crete | 88/100 🍷

Lyrarakis (@lyrarakiswines), founded in 1966 by the brothers Manolis and Sotiris Lyrarakis in Alagni near Heraklion and now run by the second generation, is the reason varieties like Dafni, Plyto and Melissaki still exist at all. In the "Queens" line, four Cretan grapes each get a solo turn – this one is Kotsifali, from a north-facing vineyard at 500 metres on loamy sand, unoaked, all stainless steel.

There's a twist behind the PGI Crete label: the red PDOs Peza and Archanes traditionally mean Kotsifali blended with Mandilaria, so a pure Kotsifali has no choice but to go PGI. And pure Kotsifali is exactly the point here.

As a vintage, 2023 was extreme on Crete: downy mildew and heat cut yields by up to 70% and pushed the harvest back – September 6th here, versus August 22nd in 2022 – in a much drier year. The upside: the late-ripening reds, Liatiko, Kotsifali and Mandilari, are considered promising for tannin quality.

That's what I taste. Fruity nose with a hint of plum, good acidity that builds on the palate, a moderate 13.5% alcohol, a touch of farmyard on the finish – and, crucially, respectable tannin. Kotsifali is usually soft and aromatic but short on structure, needing Mandilaria as its skeleton; this one stands on its own. It does stay a bit rustic, though – there's a lightness that promises an elegance which never quite arrives, and the long finish isn't showy. At around 9.90 Euro in Greece, very good value all the same. 88/100.

Full note in our database – link in bio.

Ever had a varietal Kotsifali – yes or no? 👇

#GreekWine #Kotsifali #CretanWine #Lyrarakis #GreekRedWine

The two best wines of the whole tasting were also the oldest

Château Carras 1984 vs 1997 – Slopes of Meliton, Macedonia | 95 vs 94/100 🍷

Our article on Limnio – from Aristotle to the Greek wine revolution – has just gone live, and it's built on a tasting from April 2025. Its two stars deserve their own post. Domaine Porto Carras (@domaine_porto_carras) in Neos Marmaras was one of the most ambitious wine projects of modern Greece: from the mid-1960s, shipowner Giannis Carras planted a vineyard on Mount Meliton. Émile Peynaud shaped the style and helped choose the varieties, and from 1976 to 1999 the oenologist was a certain Vangelis Gerovassiliou (@ktima_gerovassiliou).

In 1982, Slopes of Meliton became the first Greek PDO to admit international varieties: 70% Limnio, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc. Whether the 1984 – made just two years later, still under Gerovassiliou – already followed that formula or was a more Bordeaux-leaning cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot can't be cleanly established.

The 1984, at 41 years and 12.5%: faintly musty at first, but that blows off quickly. An iodine-laden nose, sloe, sea buckthorn. On the palate a saltiness carried by astonishing fruit – red berries, beetroot, something bloody – and a long finish. The tannin isn't polished, still biting, yet it makes room for the aromatics. Genuinely refreshing; don't serve it too warm.

The 1997, at 28 years and 13%: forest floor and bacon-y notes, a colour you'd never date to the 1990s, plum, blackberry, excellent freshness – and a saltiness that simply doesn't end, unlike anything I've met in a Greek wine before. The modest alcohol in both is no accident; it's part of why they feel this alive. 95/100 for the 1984, 94/100 for the 1997 – yes, the older wine is the better one.

More in our article on this tasting – link in bio.

1984 or 1997 – which cork would you pull first? 👇

#GreekWine #Limnio #SlopesOfMeliton #PortoCarras #AgedWine

Vineyards rediscovered in a storm – three wines from the Holy Mountain

Metochi Chromitsa 2017 vs Agathon 2017 vs Agathon 2006 – Mount Athos, Macedonia | 87+ vs 87 vs 85/100 🍷

Our article on Limnio – from Aristotle to the Greek wine revolution – has just gone live, and these three bottles from the tasting behind it, back in April 2025, deserve their own post. All are Limnio–Cabernet Sauvignon blends from the same place, with different weighting, ageing and age.

That place has a story: in 1969, Evangelos Tsantalis was caught in a storm on Mount Athos and stumbled upon the overgrown vineyards of the Agios Panteleimon monastery. From 1973 he revived them together with the monks, and since 1981 the wines have carried the name Regional Wines of Mount Athos – vineyards at 220–250 metres.

The Metochi Chromitsa 2017 leans on the international partner: 65% Cabernet, 35% Limnio, longer maceration, more barrel. A distinctly barnyardy nose, plenty of leather, still very coarse tannin, black tea on the finish – not a bad wine, but a touch over-made. It should hold a high level for years to come; right now it doesn't thrill.

The Agathon 2017 splits the grapes 50/50 and spends about 8 months in French barriques, 2–3 fewer than the Metochi. Proper cherry in the nose, a little Greek mountain tea, clearly herbal on the palate – no classic Cabernet, Limnio gets its say. The finish, though, is rather unspectacular.

The Agathon 2006, at 19 years, is riper but shows little mushroom – herbs and tea instead, and astonishing acidity for 14.5% alcohol; too much, in fact, for delicate tertiary aromas to come through. No sign it will tip over in the next five years either. No winner here – just the range of one place across eleven years, and the question of how much Limnio survives against Cabernet. 87+, 87 and 85/100.

More in our article on this tasting – link in bio.

The full story of Aristotle's grape is one tap away 👇

#GreekWine #Limnio #MountAthos #CabernetSauvignon #GreekRedWine

Will the young Avaton come good? Air flipped my answer

Ktima Gerovassiliou Avaton 2021, 2020 & 2017 + Domaine Red 2019 – Epanomi, Macedonia | 92+, 92+, 92 and 91+/100 🍷

Our article on Limnio – from Aristotle to the Greek wine revolution – has just gone live, and these bottles from my April 2025 tasting are behind it. Avaton is Evangelos Gerovassiliou's (@ktima_gerovassiliou) statement wine for the grape: Limnio with smaller shares of Mavrotragano and Mavroudi, chosen as the red counterpart to the Malagousia he rescued – same bottle shape, just not single-varietal.

The 2021 is still severe: dark berries, spices and herbs on the nose, but green notes and a bitterness at the back of the palate that really bother me now. The worrying case study is the 2017: at four years, in 2021, I had it at 94 – clear red fruit, sage, nougat, wonderfully fine tannins. Retasted in spring 2025, the nougat has largely dissolved; instead beetroot, kumquat bitterness and a concentration of eucalyptus I've rarely met in a Greek wine – you'd sooner think of an Australian Cabernet.

Days later, with plenty of air, the picture flips. The 2017 briefly regains its nougat, then turns oxidative – down to 90. The 2021, though, loses its sternness and shows juniper, blackberry, real structure. Reason to hope it climbs to 93 or 94 in a few years.

The 2020 (tasted separately in December 2025) sits in between: easy-drinking, lots of nougat, rounder than the 2021, but the tannin still very forward. And the house wine, the Red 2019 – Syrah-dominated, Limnio and Merlot at roughly 20% each – convinces right away: a filigree yet densely layered nose, strawberry, dried rosehip blossom, soft Merlot first, then Syrah takes over – the one bottle here that asks for no patience. 92+ for the 2021 and 2020, 92 for the 2017, and 91+ for the Red.

More in our article on this tasting – link in bio.

Cellar the 2021 or open the Red tonight? 👇

#GreekWine #Limnio #Gerovassiliou #Epanomi #GreekRedWine

The €34 second rosé just matched the €58 flagship

T-Oinos Clos Stegasta Rosé 2023 vs Mavrosé 2025 – Tinos, Cyclades | both 91/100 🍷

T-Oinos is the prestige project of Alexander Avatangelos and Gérard Margeon on Tinos, with Stéphane Derenoncourt consulting since 2016 and Thanos Georgilas – formerly of Opus One and Château Latour – making the wines. Bush vines, 10,000 per hectare, each tied to a stake against the wind, yield just 25 hl/ha on granite at 400–450 metres. Wild goats are a real nuisance; the estate dog Markos holds the title of General Supervisor.

These two rosés come from very different years. 2023 on Tinos was warm and dry, with heat spikes and an earlier harvest – September 15th instead of the 18th. 2025 was a cooler vintage that preserved fruit character and acidity, picked in early September after 2024 had come in as early as August 21st.

The Clos Stegasta Rosé 2023 (35% Assyrtiko, 35% Mavrotragano, 20% Augoustiatis, 10% Malagousia – €58) opens with a rather restrained, herbal nose and green apple. The attack is powerful, then a strong acidity takes command over a brittle mouthfeel; the complexity you'd hope for doesn't follow, and beyond the acidity little remains except a light bitter note. The 2022, which I had at 94+ in 2024 at two years old, showed real ageing potential – I don't see it here.

The Mavrosé 2025 (80% Augoustiatis, 20% Mavrotragano – around €34) is red-fruited and floral, carried by pleasant acidity, with a mouth-coating texture and an impression of sweetness despite being dry. Lemon balm and a touch of green apple on the medium finish, mineral to the point of almost metallic – the only thing pulling it down. It drinks superbly now, is far more supple than its big brother, and stands on exactly the same quality level at half the price. 91/100 for both.

Full notes in our database – link in bio.

Flagship or the €34 sibling – which goes in your glass? 👇

#GreekWine #Tinos #Cyclades #Mavrotragano #GreekRosé

Elegant nose, but the parts never quite mesh for me.

Ktima Biblia Chora Red 2023 – PGI Pangeon, Macedonia | 90/100 🍷

@ktimabibliachora makes one of my favourite Greek estate reds, and this eponymous bottling is the most affordable red of the house, under €20, below prestige cuvées like the Ovilos. Vangelis Gerovassiliou and Vassilis Tsaktsarlis built the estate on the slopes of Pangeon near Kavala, both Bordeaux-trained (Gerovassiliou under Émile Peynaud), the cellar laid out like a Bordeaux château and organic from the start. The name echoes the ancient Biblinos wine that made Pangeon famous in antiquity.

In the glass it's a Bordeaux blend – in 2023, 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Agiorgitiko for the Greek touch – twelve months in French oak, the source of the smoky, ashy spice that is the house signature in the best years. A dependable performer across vintages: I had the 2019 at 92 points, and the 2010 still at 91+ with thirteen years on it. 2019 was the great northern-Greek reference year; 2023 sits a notch below.

I opened it in May and it left me a little undecided. The nose is genuinely elegant – cherry, a few floral notes. On the palate it tips: a powerful attack, the 14% pushing the flavour broadly ahead of it, and for all its velvet it leans too one-sidedly on the oak without turning it into that smoky, ashy spice. Only on the finish does the Merlot step out – dark olive, plenty of raspberry, a milk-chocolate depth and a still-dominant tannin. Nose, attack, middle and finish mesh a touch too little for me. A very solid vintage of a wine I hold in high regard – but it doesn't reach the 2019, and the mature 2010 had more cohesion. For me, 90 points.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Save this for your next under-€20 Greek red.

#GreekWine #BordeauxBlend #WinesOfGreece #OrganicWine #GreekRedWine

From Santorini's catastrophe vintage, the most opulent GAIA I know

GAIA Wines Assyrtiko Wild Ferment 2023 – Santorini | 93/100 🍷

GAIA is one of the houses where you can read the modernisation of Greek wine: founded in 1994 by Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, a Bordeaux-trained oenologist with a doctorate, and Leon Karatsalos, with a Santorini cellar in a former tomato factory between Kamari and Monolithos. Among the estate's curiosities: in 2009 they sank 450 bottles of Thalassitis in the sea to age underwater — only three could be recovered in 2014. The Wild Ferment has run since 2008 and wears its method in the name: spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts, no temperature control, no malolactic, then six months across steel, oak, acacia and ceramic spheres. The fruit comes from ungrafted old vines in Pyrgos, 70–80 years old on average, on volcanic pumice at 50–250 metres.

2023 was a catastrophe year on Santorini: hail on April 23rd in the central zone, strong spring winds, unusual late-spring rains and a prolonged July heatwave pushed yields to about 30% of normal, and Assyrtiko was extremely scarce. That an opulent bottle came out of such a year at all — 24,500 bottles of it — is the real achievement.

I've had this wine many, many times, yet I can't remember one with this much citrus on the nose. On the palate, tension without the classic Santorini austerity — an austerity I consider overrated anyway. Before the finish comes the most important part: a wonderful texture. Then a long, long aftertaste with just the right amount of residual fruit. For me this is the most opulent of the GAIA wines I know. Give it 30 minutes in a decanter; depending on the market it costs between roughly €37 and €52. 93/100.

Full note in our database — link in bio.

Santorini austerity: essential character or overhyped? 👇

#GreekWine #Assyrtiko #Santorini #Cyclades #VolcanicWine

The estate's entry-level blend — and the best version of it I've tasted.

Lacules Estate The Chord 2022 – Koroni, Messenia | 93/100 🍷

The Chord is the little brother at Lacules Estate (@lacules_estate) in Koroni, Messenia — the approachable one, €24 in the estate's own shop, against the ~€51 single-varietal Estate wines. The recipe shifts every year; the 2022 is 50% Grenache, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Syrah at 14.5%, aged in barrel.

Good wood on the nose, juniper, dried blueberry. On the palate it holds back for a beat — then comes at you with a full broadside: fresh blueberry, plum, a touch of caramel, a long finish, and 14.5% so well integrated nothing feels heavy. Opulent, with a late savoury note of olive tapenade. It slots to the top of my own Chord vertical: the 2019 at 91 (tasted 2022, at three years) then 92 (2024, at five), the 2021 at 92+ (2024, three years) — and this 2022 above them all. Around €24. 93 points.

Grenache-led Greek reds — sleeper hit, or not for you? 👇

#GreekWine #Grenache #Peloponnese #Messenia #RedBlend

Manousakis Winery Nostos Syrah 2020 – PGI Chania, Crete | 91/100 🍷

Few Greek wines split a room like the Nostos Syrah from @manousakis_winery on Crete. Yiannis Karakasis @yianniskarakasismw once called an early vintage a candidate for Greece's best Syrah; others punish its reductive, smoky style. The sharpest chronicler of this wine, Pavlos Gegas @pavlosgegas, is tough on the older bottlings for overripeness — 85 for the 2017, just 83 for the 2018 — yet lifted this 2020 to 87. Julia Harding @juliahardingmw gave it a solid 16/20 too.

That fits the year: 2020 was a very good, balanced, classic vintage on Crete, ripe healthy fruit from a warm-dry but trouble-free season where higher elevations held the freshness — noticeably steadier than the heat-stressed 2021. So I expected this 100% Syrah (14.5%) to keep pace with the 2021, maybe beat it.

I'd loved the 2017 in a big Syrah lineup back in 2023 (96 points from me, well above the Greek critics), so I was eager. I poured the 2020 next to the 2021 — and it didn't win me over. A touch more fruit on the nose, but on the palate the alcohol shoves forward, burning and dominant on the finish, with charcoal, a flick of curry, and more silicone and rubber than I'd like; the fruit gets buried. The tannin is broad and furry rather than inviting, giving those reductive notes room again and again. Coarser too, more extract, more wood, even a raisiny edge on the close — exactly the overripeness Gegas flags in the older years.

As much as the vintage and the critics argue for it, here the Nostos tips toward everything its skeptics complain about. That Gegas rated it above the 2017 I so admired still baffles me. For me: 92 at most, more likely 91.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Which side are you on — Nostos believer or skeptic? Tell me below.

#GreekWine #Syrah #CreteWine #WinesOfGreece #Manousakis

A dry rosé that drinks sweet — and it's built for red-wine lovers.

Lacules Estate Rosé 2025 – Koroni, Messenia | 93/100 🍷

From Lacules Estate (@lacules_estate), a tiny 5-hectare property on Lacules Bay in Koroni, run by Barbara Gruber (WSET Diploma, ex-Blankiet in California) and Jörg Salchenegger. The house calls it a "rosé for red-wine lovers," and they mean it: a deep, glinting, almost-red saignée rosé from old Grenache and Merlot plus young Avgoustiatis, fermented a touch warm and rested seven months in used barriques — wood as support, never a mask.

The nose is loud with red fruit — strawberry, a whisper of mint, even a hint of banana. Then the paradox: it drinks remarkably sweet and succulent for a bone-dry wine (just ~1.6 g/l residual sugar — that's ripe fruit and texture, not sugar), with a light bitter lift and a long finish. One tip: don't serve it ice-cold. The bottle emptied embarrassingly fast. Around €24 from the estate's own shop — a boutique wine made in tiny quantity. 93 points.

Could a "rosé for red-wine drinkers" convert you? 👇

#GreekWine #Rosé #Peloponnese #Messenia #BoutiqueWine

Same grape, same year — and 2021 treated these three very differently 🍷 Penfolds 97, Nostos 95, Lacules 94+/100

2021 was an extreme year in Greece: three rainless heatwaves on Crete, a historic August past 45°C in the Peloponnese — Yiannis Karakasis (@yianniskarakasismw) called it "the oenologist's year," and the ageing potential of many Greek reds has been in question ever since. The Australian benchmark carries no such baggage; critics wave it through at 96–97. So the real question of this flight wasn't Greece vs Australia — it was what a brutal vintage leaves in the glass. Three 2021 Syrahs, all single-varietal, all 14.5%.

The benchmark: @penfolds St Henri Shiraz, Grange's affordable sibling, twelve months in old oak, none of the vanilla polish of new wood. Dark berry, plum, liquorice, that graphite-iron "ironstone" streak — the most powerful and jammy of the three, blueberry through and through, gripping tannin. 97 points, and around €100 the value is outstanding.

The Cretan: @manousakis_winery Nostos Syrah from Vatolakkos, organic and dry-farmed. Easily the most expressive nose of the flight — grilled tomato, balsamic, thyme, a rare twist of grapefruit. And here is the vintage twist: from the weaker year, it makes more of itself than the vintage promised, translating heat into tension instead of jam. The most interesting of the three (its 2017 stood at 96 with me in 2023). 95 points, and by far the cheapest at a good €35.

The Peloponnesian: @lacules_estate Syrah from Koroni, grown 26 paces from the sea — and that breeze is exactly what tempered the brutal August there. René Gabriel (@weingabriel) rates it 19/20. Next to the other two it is pure elegance, but still very closed and young; I had this same vintage at 96 in 2024, at three years. For now 94+ — lay it down five more years.

The verdict: the Penfolds is the most complete, from a year that made things easy. The Greeks had the hard vintage — and both turned it into wine worth arguing about.

More details in the tasting notes in our database and in our article on this tasting ... link in bio!

Power, intrigue or elegance — which glass first? 👇

#GreekWine #Syrah #Penfolds #WineComparison #Shiraz

A Greek Chardonnay with real oak on it — and not a trace of heaviness.

Oinotropai Nomade Chardonnay 2025 – PGI Messinia, Peloponnese | 92+/100 🍷

From @estate_oinotropai, the little boutique estate Vasilis and Maria Kapopoulos run near Kalamata (~30,000 bottles a year). The vines are dry-farmed — never irrigated, never fertilised — on clay soil, with a big day-night swing and cooling sea breezes from the Messenian Gulf; six months in barrel, 13% alcohol. You may know it as the old "Roes Chardonnay" — same wine, new name.

Just released, and you can tell: banana and fresh exotic fruit on the nose, then a lively palate with a fine prickle of CO2 still on it, very good acidity and excellent grip. A kiss of oak, but no weight at all — exactly the kind of Greek Chardonnay I root for. More of this, please.

It sits right in my own vertical of this wine: the 2018 at 93 (2022, four years old) and the 2019 at 92 (2022, at three). Around €14.50–15, drinkable now, but I'd give it another half-year to settle; it'll keep to 2030. 92+ points.

Know someone who thinks Greece can't do Chardonnay? Send them this. 📩

#GreekWine #Chardonnay #Peloponnese #Messinia #WhiteWine

Greece's only red Carignan — and in the hottest, driest vintage on record, it came out lighter, not bigger.

Oinotropai Red Monk Carignan 2024 – PGI Messinia, Peloponnese | 93+/100 🍷

From a tiny 0.4-hectare block of own-rooted, ungrafted Carignan — around forty years old, dry-farmed, no fertiliser — at @estate_oinotropai in Zevgolatio, where Vasilis and Maria Kapopoulos make it. You may know it as the old "Roes Carignan."

2024 was the hottest, driest year the Peloponnese has seen in recent memory — a July heat dome over 40°C. Most reds came out heavy and high in alcohol; this one went the other way, slim and upright at 13.3%, the estate pulling its alcohol back vintage by vintage (15.5% in 2018, 14% in 2021, now 13.3%).

The bouquet alone is worth the glass — a whole basket of fruit lifted by appetising herbs, fascinating acidity, solid tannin, and none of the chocolate you so often get in bigger Greek reds. It slots straight into my own vertical: the 2018 at 94 (tasted 2022, at four years) and the 2021 at 94 (2025). Around €16, drinkable now but built for the cellar — I'd open it from 2029, with a window to 2034. 93+ points.

Save this one for the cellar — 2029 is when I'd pull the cork. 📌

#GreekWine #Carignan #Peloponnese #OldVines #Messinia

🍇 Two old grapes, one terroir — and the soil turns them into completely different wines.

A morning at Oinotropai (@estate_oinotropai), the small family estate Vasilis and Maria Kapopoulos run in Zevgolatio, near Kalamata. I've followed their wines for years — their old-vine Carignan, the only red Carignan in Greece, is so good I once tasted it right next to a 99-point Chilean.

But the best part was standing in the vineyard, talking. Not the tired "organic vs. conventional" debate — something more honest: farming that's genuinely sustainable for this specific place. They let the grass grow between the rows to hold moisture in the soil, and the old Carignan carries itself on its own ungrafted roots — around forty years old, no irrigation, no fertiliser — straight through a Peloponnese summer.

Then the old vines themselves. Carignan and Tempranillo, planted decades ago right next to each other — same slope, same sun, same soil — and reacting completely differently. Standing between the two rows, you can almost read the terroir off the leaves. A living, side-by-side experiment you rarely get to see this clearly.

Two tasting notes from the visit are coming soon. For today, just gratitude. 🙏

Which international grape variety do you think grows best in Greece? 👇

#GreekWine #Carignan #Tempranillo #Peloponnese #WineryVisit

Named for the turtles crossing its rows in summer

Alpha Estate Syrah Single Vineyard “Turtles” 2023 – PGI Florina | 91/100 🍷

Alpha Estate (@alpha_estate), founded in 1997 by Makis Mavridis and Angelos Iatridis, is among Greece’s most technical estates, in Amyndeon (PGI Florina), one of the country’s coolest corners, a plateau at 600–700 m ringed by mountains and tempered by two lakes. You hear it here, from the “Turtles” single vineyard, named for the turtles crossing the rows in summer. This Syrah turns dark, spicy, peppery and herbal rather than broad and jammy, with an acidity nudging it toward the northern Rhône. 100% Syrah, 14.5%, a year in French oak then a year in bottle. At around €17, a single-vineyard wine from a top address at a fair price.

The cellar work is modern, eight months on fine lees before oak. 2023 in Amyndeon was not easy: a mild, snowless winter, a wet, cool spring with mildew, then a hot, dry summer with water stress. The ripening saved it, long and even with cool nights, giving phenolic ripeness with kept freshness. For an estate as precise as Alpha, such a year is an advantage, not a problem.

I had the 2023 in my glass this month. The nose is still fairly reserved, mostly blackberry with some bell pepper. The palate is dense at first, then quickly taken over by alcohol. It wants a little complexity to truly lift it; I understand those who give it “only” 89+ and would start the window in a year or two.

The producer calls it an age-worthy Vin de Garde. I’ve grown cautious about Alpha’s ageing predictions, and need more years of my own experience. It will likely last, but doesn’t need the time and probably won’t unlock much more. Very well made, a very solid Greek Syrah. For me, 91 points.

A much more detailed review lives in our site’s tasting-note database of 500+ Greek wines.

Send this to the friend who only drinks northern-Rhône Syrah.

#GreekWine #Syrah #SingleVineyard #WinesOfGreece #GreekRedWine

Own-rooted Agiorgitiko vines, over a hundred years old.

La Tour Melas Palies Rizes 2020 – Central Greece × Nemea | 94/100 🍷

Palies Rizes means "old roots." The wine comes from a pre-phylloxera, own-rooted Agiorgitiko vineyard more than a hundred years old in Floiountas near Nemea, which Panos Zoumboulis brought back into production in 2013. The winery itself, @latourmelas, is up north in Achinos, Fthiotida, where Kyros Melas started out in 2000 wanting to make a Greek wine at first-growth level. Yields are very low at 15 hl/ha, fermentation is with wild yeasts, and the wine spends 15 months in 400-litre Austrian oak, unfined. The label changes depending on where you buy it, anywhere from Wine of Greece to PGI to PDO Nemea, but what matters is that old vineyard. At about 235 € for this vintage and mostly sold out, it's a collector's bottle.

I had high expectations going in, and the wine lived up to them. Expressive nose, plenty of dark fruit with juniper berry in there too. The tannins are very fine and already drinkable, the minerality is good, and the finish runs very long. @juliahardingmw puts it among the producer's top three; for me it's a very, very good wine — 94 points.

If you're into Greek wine it's worth trying once, assuming you can track down a bottle.

The full note, with more on the vineyard and how it's made, is in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Save this for the day you track down a bottle.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #GreekFineWine #OwnRootedVines #FrancsDePied

I scored this 95+ once — years later, 92.

Alpha Estate S.M.X. 2017 – PGI Florina, Amyndeon | 92/100 🍷

S.M.X. is Alpha Estate’s (@alpha_estate) far more ambitious big brother to the Axia, from the same cool heights but built quite differently. 60% Syrah, 20% Merlot, 20% Xinomavro, at a yield of about 25 hl/ha, half the Axia’s. At least eighteen months in new French oak, bottled unfiltered. This is plainly a vin de garde with grand-vin ambition, with even Bordeaux consultant Eric Boissenot listed as blending consultant. Syrah gives colour, dark fruit and pepper, Merlot pads, Xinomavro brings acidity, grip and ageing potential. At around €23, still fair for the effort.

2017 here too was dry and early, with hail in spots but strong in quality, and Syrah, Merlot and Xinomavro all ripened beautifully in Amyndeon. Analytically the year is intriguing: despite a good 14%, acidity sits high at 6.4 g/l with low pH, a cool, taut axis rather than sheer power.

Expectations ran high. Julia Harding MW (@juliahardingmw) gave it 18++ on JancisRobinson.com, praising power and finesse and seeing big potential she thought would show fast. On griechische-weine.info I had it at 95+ in 2021, still 92+ in late 2024. Those two pluses of Harding’s now look too optimistic to me.

Now, a good eighteen months on, the nose shows clearly less blackberry than a few years back, more dark cherry and plum, just a trace of Christmas spice. On the palate an acidity carries it very steadily, with caramel. Relatively unspectacular, but very balanced. Drink it now or to about 2030. For me, 92 points, this time without the plus I gave it in late 2024. It hasn’t quite met the big hopes, but that is exactly why these re-tastings over the years matter.

A much more detailed review lives in our site’s tasting-note database of 500+ Greek wines.

Save this as a reminder to re-taste the bottles you're cellaring.

#GreekWine #Syrah #Xinomavro #WinesOfGreece #GreekRedWine

A Malagouzia that kept me thinking of white Bordeaux

Erithrou Rodou Malagouzia Single Vineyard 2024 · Drama | 92/100 🍷

@ktima_erithrou_rodou built its name on Malagouzia — which is what makes this 2024 the interesting one, because it breaks with the estate's own floral house style. 100% Malagouzia from the single vineyard Ammoudies at Kokkinogeia, 15-year-old vines, steel only — no oak, no amphora. Just 2,600 bottles, around 19–21 EUR, made by Giannis Triantafyllidis with oenologist Dr. Katerina Karampatea, @katerina_oenopolis, who trained in Burgundy.

I know the earlier vintages well: the 2020 I scored a bold 92 in 2021 at a year old — elderflower, lychee, lovely acidity — and the 2021 I lifted to 94 in 2022, again at a year, with heavier rose and a long floral finish, the star of my Malagouzia line-up that season. The 2024 goes the other way. Far less flower, more like dried petals on the nose, but a gripping acidity and a density that's unusual for the grape — I kept thinking of a white Bordeaux from a very warm year: dense, elegant, taut. The finish is medium rather than long, though a second, faintly floral echo follows behind it.

2024 was Greece's hottest, driest year on record, and the whites had the roughest ride — you can taste the effort here. A serious, refined Malagouzia, a food wine rather than an easy pour, one that earns respect even if it doesn't quite thrill. The Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy gave it just Bronze (86), while the estate's barrel-fermented Assyrtiko 2024, which I tasted alongside, took Gold — a gap that fits my own reading.

Worth tasting once if you love Malagouzia, or Greek wine in general. 92 points.

Save this for when you want a Malagouzia with grip, not just flowers.

#GreekWine #WinesOfGreece #Malagouzia #DramaWine #SingleVineyard

Cavino Nemea 1978 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 90/100 🍷

We opened this for a small tasting of wines turning 45, next to several other 1978s, including a Château Mouton Rothschild and a Château Margaux from the same year. @cavinowinery was founded in 1958, twenty years before this bottle, and today it's mainly known for inexpensive Greek wines you'll find on supermarket and discounter shelves. So expectations were low.

The wine turned out to be a revelation. Blueberry on the nose, and a palate that's remarkably supple for its age, with a long, ringing finish marked by sea buckthorn and a strange, almost bloody note. It's 100% Agiorgitiko, as PDO Nemea requires. On the night it beat both Bordeaux. The Mouton was sadly undrinkable, most likely a bad bottle rather than the wine itself, and the Margaux had a gorgeous peppery, cassis nose but stayed pretty rough on the palate.

At this age there are no great wines, only great bottles. But the impression this Nemea left was hard to argue with. An exciting find, and a clear 90 points.

Longer note, with more on the tasting and the producer, in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

A 1978 Greek red that outshone first-growth Bordeaux — would you have bet on it?

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #Nemea #WinesOfGreece #AgedGreekWine

Kourtakis Nemea 1990 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 89/100 🍷

This is the plain Kourtaki Nemea, the basic bottling, not the slightly more ambitious oak-touched Kouros. It's the wine that helped make Kourtakis, by Wines of Greece's account, the leading private Greek producer of Agiorgitiko reds, at something like 30 million bottles a year. So we're deep in the mass market of early modern Greek wine here, and the 11.5% alcohol, half a point below the Kouros, underlines it. If you want aged Greek wine, especially in Germany, you can't really get around houses like this. It was cheap then and it's cheap now.

This one is from my birth year, so I tasted it with some curiosity. The colour again holds up well. The nose is appealing, less caramel than the Boutari, more coffee and espresso. On the palate, for once, none of that overaged Agiorgitiko sharpness I keep complaining about. It's a bit watery and the low alcohol shows, but there's a lot of extract and, remarkably, no off notes at all. Stable, lively acidity, genuinely moreish. It misses a little complexity on the finish, where the Boutari edges ahead, but plenty of people would drink this one more happily. I give it 89 points, and you can soberly predict it'll still drink well in five years. Pretty wild for a 35-year-old mass-market bottle.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

A 35-year-old supermarket bottle still drinking well — what's the oldest that's surprised you?

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #PDONemea #WinesOfGreece #AgedRed

Erithrou Rodou Assyrtiko French Oak 2024 · Drama | 93/100 🍷

A barrel-fermented Assyrtiko from Drama, made by Giannis Triantafyllidis with Burgundy-trained oenologist Dr. Katerina Karampatea, @katerina_oenopolis, at @ktima_erithrou_rodou — a tiny estate whose name means "Domaine of the Red Rose". 100% Assyrtiko from a cool 200 m site in the Aggitis Valley, 2–5°C below the rest of PGI Drama; free-run must only, fermented in French barriques, eight months on the fine lees. Just 2,500 bottles, around 29 EUR.

On the nose it's recognisably Assyrtiko — minerality, a touch of apricot. The palate has grip and real elegance at once, opening into a fruity, exotic, papaya finish that the very serious Santorini Assyrtikos rarely give you. I prefer this to sheer austerity. One tip: don't serve it too cold, or the vanilla of the oak comes through too strongly.

2024 was the hottest, driest year on record in Greece, and the Macedonian whites were the year's hardest exercise — so this much freshness and grip is worth noting. This is my second vintage of the wine: I rated the 2021 debut 94 back in 2022 at a year old, all lime and green apple, chalky and Riesling-like; the 2024 sits just below, riper and more exotic — papaya instead of that lean line, the heat year in the glass.

The competitions read it much the same way: Gold (92) at the Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy — where the estate's Malagouzia 2024, which I tasted alongside, got only Bronze — plus Gold at the Mondial des Vins Blancs in Strasbourg. For me, better than most Santorini Assyrtiko, and at that price all the more so: 93 points.

#GreekWine #WinesOfGreece #Assyrtiko #DramaWine #DrinkGreek

Kourtakis Kouros Nemea 1992 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 78/100 🍷

Kourtakis is another of the three big houses that drove Greek wine exports in this era, alongside Boutari and Tsantali. Founded in 1895, it later traded as Greek Wine Cellars. Kouros Nemea was a widely sold, approachable line; the Washington Post described the 1989 back in 1994 as ripe, soft and medium-bodied, then 8 dollars a bottle. Today the Kouros runs roughly 5–8 € in Greece.

I tasted it. The colour still holds up well. But on the nose that sharpness I find so typical of overaged Agiorgitiko hits straight away. The whole thing feels brandied, on the palate too, with light metallic notes and bitterness, and a long, distracting finish. There is still some darker fruit in there, mostly plum. 78 points.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Have you had a Greek red from the early '90s recently — still standing, or long gone?

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #Nemea #WinesOfGreece #VintageWine

Tsantali Nemea Reserve Epilegmenos 1993 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 84/100 🍷

Tsantali was one of the defining names of modern Greek wine, and one of the big exporters that put it on the map in the 1980s and 90s. The house was declared bankrupt in January 2026, so opening a bottle more than thirty years old carries some sadness. The Epilegmenos (reserve) label meant something real under the old rules, at least three years total ageing with time in wood and bottle, a regulatory promise rather than marketing. Old Tsantali wines have surprised us before, and Pavlos Gegas (@pavlosgegas) gave the house's Agiorgitiko Nemea 2000 a remarkable 94 points in 2022. A collector bottle now runs about 39 €.

So expectations were genuinely high. I tasted it. It's denser than the Boutari, with much more extract. The nose held up well, stewed fruit and stewed plums. On the palate it lacks the usual sharpness of overaged Agiorgitiko, spread out more evenly, which is pleasant. But a faint bitterness creeps in and there's a little stickiness right at the end. Lots of small flaws, each costing a point. In places it could be a 90, but it shows those flaws every time, so 84 points. A wine you wish more for, and we may simply have missed its window, probably somewhere around 2015.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Any old Tsantali still in your cellar? After the bankruptcy they're pieces of history.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #NemeaWine #WineHistory #GreekWineHistory

Boutari Nemea 1998 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 90/100 🍷

@boutariwines is one of Greece's most storied houses, founded in Naoussa in 1879 and exporting since the 1930s. It expanded into Nemea in the 1980s, and the Agiorgitiko became part of the core range, a standard bottling rather than a reserve, once about 10 € in Ireland. Hopes for a standard bottle more than 25 years old weren't high. Then again, Pavlos Gegas (@pavlosgegas) had given the only slightly younger 2003 a full 91 points, even from a less-than-perfect bottle, describing real tertiary richness, carob, chestnut, espresso, aged chocolate, with surprising energy from high acidity and fully resolved tannins.

I tasted it. The nose surprised me, carrying its caramel-brown colour over into the glass as a lot of toffee. On the palate the modest 11.5% actually helps, because there's good acidity running right through, never flagging, smoothing over small flaws even on the finish. Surprising and welcome, still 90 points, but no reason to age a wine like this any further.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Would you trust a 25-year-old standard-label Nemea? This one surprised me.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #PDONemea #WinesOfGreece #AgedGreekWine

Palivou Estate Anemos Agiorgitiko 2013 – PGI Peloponnese | 82/100 🍷

@ktima_palivou is a family estate in Ancient Nemea, founded in 1995, farming more than 50 hectares organically and with biodynamic principles. The Anemos fruit comes from the Giugiza slopes at 420–460 metres on deep clay. It's the entry line, fruit-driven, with only six or seven days on the skins and built for early drinking. Above it sit the PDO Nemea and the Ammos Terra Leone. As an entry wine it cost under 10 €, and you can't expect too much of one more than a decade on.

I tasted it. There's decent extract, which suits it well at only 12.5% without tipping into over-extraction. But too much of the fruit has already receded and too many oxidative notes have crept in. Aged Agiorgitiko often turns brittle, like dry wood, and that's what's happening here. 82 points. For context, the estate's Nemea Reserve is a different animal; we gave the 2018 91 points.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Have you had a 2013 Greek red lately — still alive, or over the hill?

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #NemeaWine #WinesOfGreece #AgedWine

Barafakas Winery Apocalypsis Agiorgitiko 2015 – PDO Nemea, Peloponnese | 89/100 🍷

This is the premium bottling from @barafakas_winery, the same Nemea family behind the lighter Idea. For the Apocalypsis they picked their best plots on the slopes of Agios Ilias at 380–400 metres after about ten years of watching and experimenting. The wine ferments in steel, then spends twelve to fifteen months in French oak and at least two years in bottle before release. WineTaster gave the 2015 91 points in 2022, calling it more fine and herbal than just ripe and oaky. On price it sits above the everyday Idea, in the mid-teens in euros.

I tasted it. The nose is fairly reserved. On the palate there's interesting minerality that later shows up on the nose as a faint chlorine note. The wine has layers. It's explosive on the attack, then moves into darker, olive, woody, earthy territory, and then drains away quite quickly into that Greek soil. So 89 points for now. I don't think it's in a closed phase it'll climb out of. If you have it, drink it now.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

Cellar it or drink it now? I'd open it — curious what you'd do.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #Nemea #WinesOfGreece #CellarWine

Ktima Biblia Chora Areti 2016 – PGI Pangeon, Macedonia | 91/100 🍷

This is normally one of my favourite Agiorgitikos from outside Nemea. @ktimabibliachora was founded by Vassilis Tsaktsarlis and Vangelis Gerovassiliou, both Bordeaux-trained, Gerovassiliou also the key figure behind the revival of Malagousia. The vineyards sit at about 380 metres in the Pangeon hills near Kavala, on gravelly limestone-clay soils cooled by Aegean breezes. The estate says Areti was the first Agiorgitiko ever made outside its Nemea homeland, a deliberate pioneer project. Cold maceration at 6 °C, then 12 months in French oak, about 10,000 bottles, around 19.80 €.

I'd loved earlier vintages here. We gave both the 2013 and the 2016 a thrilled 94 points back in 2021, so I was keen to see how the 2016 showed eight years on. It disappointed me a little. Lots of juniper on the nose and the palate, with slightly green notes that nag, and a sense of tasting the common denominator of all Biblia Chora's oak. The smoky finish doesn't do much. It picks up on the second wave, and it should hold this level for another five years. Still a very good wine, no question, just not its best self. 91 points.

More in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #PangeonWine #OrganicWine #GreekReds

Astir X Winery Faré Rebels Agiorgitiko 2017 – PGI Peloponnese | 84/100 🍷

@astirxwinery is on the edge of Kalamata in Messinia. The family history goes back to 1930, and today they work with 88 local growers across some 80 hectares. The name Faré points to ancient Farai, the old name of Kalamata, and the Greek revolution that started there in 1821. The wine sees no oak and is built for fruit and early drinking. The producer calls it full-bodied, which at 12.5% sounds like a contradiction, and it is one. It's an entry-level price, roughly 10–14 €.

I tasted it. The nose is still fairly pleasant, with some green, vegetal notes. The attack grabs you and the acidity is good, but it fades very fast. Not unpleasant on the finish, just too short. 84 points.

Fuller note in our database of more than 500 Greek wines at griechische-weine.info.

#GreekWine #Agiorgitiko #GreekReds #EntryLevelWine #DrinkNow

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