La Tour Melas – Idylle d'Achinos 2025

The Idylle d'Achinos is the mid-tier rosé from La Tour Melas, positioned above the entry-level Nautilus and below the top-of-the-range Silphium, with which I tasted it in October 2026. The estate sits in Achinos near Stylida in Fthiotida – the same house whose red wines I consistently rate between 94 and 95+ points. The 2025 is a blend of 44 percent Grenache Noir, 38 percent Syrah and 18 percent Agiorgitiko, as confirmed by the winery. Compared with the 2021, which was still 50 percent Grenache Noir, 30 percent Agiorgitiko and 20 percent Syrah, the Syrah proportion has thus almost doubled while the Agiorgitiko has been reduced considerably. The classification has changed too. The 2025 runs as "Wine of Greece," whereas the 2021 still bore the PGI Fthiotida.

In the cellar the work is the same as for the Nautilus – depending on variety and parcel, saignée or direct pressing, 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 hectoliters per hectare. At 12.7 percent, the alcohol is practically at the level of the 2021 (12.8 percent). Idylle and Nautilus therefore evidently differ in the blend, not in the cellar work.

So far I have only noted the 2021 of the Idylle, which I saw at 91 points in September 2023, roughly two years after the harvest. At the Decanter World Wine Awards 2026 the 2025 received 88 points and Bronze. Julia Harding MW tasted it for Jancis Robinson, her score sitting behind the paywall. I am now trying the 2025 about a year after the harvest.

On the nose this wine is incredibly expressive, with a great deal of red fruit, plus rather atypical cherry and raspberry. On the palate there is plenty of citrus, along with good acidity, which however appears mainly on the attack and does not impair the drive, and on the finish there is pear. Fantastically complex, in that it really does have a bit of everything, lacks nothing and pulls many registers.

For me it is by far the best vintage of the Idylle I have had so far, and on top of that it tolerated plenty of oxygen and was still good days later. The bottle costs around 16 euros in Greece. At first I wanted to give it 92+ points, but it actually deserves 93, and for this price that is outstanding. For me this is 93 points.