Domaine Skouras – Peplo 2024

Skouras Peplo Rosé. Around €15 retail in Greece. Around €17 in Germany.

George and Dimitris Skouras experimented for three years before releasing the first Peplo in 2017. Their stated goal: "We wanted to make a serious rosé wine. Something similar to our big reds or whites." Rosé specialist Elizabeth Gabay MW tasted the debut vintage and wrote: "I would say they have succeeded."

Here's what "serious" means in practice. Three grapes in equal parts, each from a different corner of the Peloponnese, each on different soil, at different altitude, aged in a different vessel: Agiorgitiko from Nemea at 850m on clay, aged in acacia barrels. Syrah from Argolida at 600m on rocky soil, in stainless steel on its lees. Mavrofilero from Mantinia at 650m on sand, in egg-shaped amphoras for four months on its skins, wrapped in fabric – the peplos that gives the wine its name.

Three vineyards. Three vinification paths. Three ageing vessels. Then blended. At most wineries, this level of complexity is reserved for the flagship red. Here it's the rosé. For fifteen euros.

In the glass: pale coral, red-gold hints. Strawberry, white flowers, grapefruit, something mineral. The palate has real structure – salty, precise, a finish that keeps going. Not a patio sipper that vanishes. A rosé you remember.

It's an interesting case of critics either getting or not getting the idea. Jancis Robinson gave this wine 17/20 across three vintages (2017, 2021, 2024). Parker, by contrast, sits around 89. Wine Enthusiast called it "easy to drink but conceptually fascinating" and noted it could age three years or more. I tasted the 2024 last autumn. 92+ points. I think it will improve. Try the 2024 this year. And don't be surprised if one of the coming vintages goes through the roof.