A Rosé That Talks, and One That Keeps Quiet

The red wines of La Tour Melas from Achinos near Stylida in Fthiotida have consistently earned 94 to 95+ points from me for years. That the house does not treat its rosés as an afterthought is evident from the tiering alone: at the bottom the Nautilus, in the middle the Idylle d'Achinos, at the top the Silphium, a cuvée the estate describes as very limited. In October 2026 I tasted the two upper wines of the 2025 vintage together, both as samples from the winery. One could hardly have assembled a more instructive pair: one is incredibly expressive on the nose and covers a great many registers on the palate, the other is reticent on the nose and a powerhouse on the palate. And both stand at the highest level I have yet encountered from these wines.

Idylle d'Achinos 2025

The Idylle d'Achinos 2025 is a blend of 44 per cent Grenache Noir, 38 per cent Syrah and 18 per cent Agiorgitiko, as the winery has confirmed. That is a marked shift from the 2021, which still stood at 50 per cent Grenache Noir, 30 per cent Agiorgitiko and 20 per cent Syrah: the Syrah share has nearly doubled, the Agiorgitiko has been cut back considerably. The classification has changed too; the 2025 goes out as “Wine of Greece”, whereas the 2021 still carried the PGI Fthiotida. In the cellar the work is the same as for the Nautilus: saignée or direct pressing depending on variety and parcel, with or without skin contact, 13 to 20 days of cold fermentation, then four months on the fine lees, at an average yield of 50 hectolitres per hectare. Idylle and Nautilus thus apparently differ in the blend, not in the cellar work. At 12.7%, the alcohol is practically level with the 2021 (12.8%).

Around Achinos, the summer months of 2025 looked like this: from July to mid-September the daily maxima averaged 30.0 °C where 28.8 is usual, and at 39.3 millimetres considerably less rain fell than the customary 59.9. The gap between day and night was 8.5 degrees, the largest difference since 2000, against the usual 7.7.

On the nose this wine is incredibly expressive: a great deal of red fruit, plus rather atypical cherry and raspberry. On the palate there is plenty of citrus, carried by good acidity that appears above all on the attack without impairing the drive; pear stands in the finish. It is fantastically complex in the sense that it genuinely has a bit of everything, that nothing is missing and that it covers a great many registers. On top of that it tolerated plenty of oxygen and was still good days after opening.

The only Idylle I had previously noted was the 2021, which I saw at 91 points in September 2023, around two years after the harvest (tasting note). The 2025, which I tried about a year after the harvest, is for me by far the best vintage of this wine. At first I wanted to give it 92+, but it really deserves 93, and at around €16 in Greece that is outstanding. For me that is 93 points.

Silphium 2025

The Silphium is the house's top rosé and, at around €40 in Greece, costs more than double the Idylle. Its recipe changes from vintage to vintage, and in 2025 it is different once again. It is led by Fokiano from ungrafted vines on Naxos, joined by Grenache and Syrah as well as, according to the estate in a smaller proportion this year, Aspro Potamisi; the house gives no percentages. The Fokiano lead together with Grenache and Aspro Potamisi is shared with the 2021; the Syrah is new. The alcohol stands at 13.4%.

On the nose it is somewhat reticent. Pomegranate comes through, a tiny bit of rose water, a touch of orange zest. On the palate it is then a powerhouse: incredibly dense, so dense that one can hardly call it complex, yet in that density incredibly present and convincing. At only 13.4% it seems far more oily, but never heavily sweet; rather, it is marked by an incredible smokiness and bacon-fat character. Were the nose a little more enticing, this would be even more.

For context: I had the 2021 at 93+ in September 2023 at around two years of age (tasting note); Yannis Athanasakopoulos gave it 90 points at WineVein, so I saw it higher. I had the 2023 at 94 in September 2024 at around one year of age (tasting note) and considered it worth cellaring at the time. The 2025, at about a year old, is exactly as old as the 2023 was back then, and it is racier than any vintage I have had in the glass so far. I am not aware of any third-party score for the 2025. This is a quite fantastic vintage, and for me that is 95 points.

Which One for Whom

It remains a nice twist that of the two wines it is the cheaper one that is the more complex: the Idylle has a bit of everything, the Silphium is so dense that the question of complexity becomes almost academic. The recommendation is therefore easy. Anyone looking for an expressive, complete rosé for under €20 that still gives pleasure after days of exposure to oxygen should reach for the Idylle d'Achinos. The Silphium, by contrast, is for those who regard rosé as a serious wine category and are prepared to spend €40 on it: bacon fat, smoke, density and, at moderate alcohol, astonishing presence. A summer wine for the pool it is probably not. That was presumably never the plan.

Anyone who does not want to miss future tastings and articles can sign up for the newsletter here.