Greece has quite a lot of nice issues going for it. Its meals is replicated the world over as a result of it is simply that good. Its pure magnificence is unmatched. And its cultural sights usher in hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in tourism income every year. Nevertheless, there’s one space the place Greece is not as revered: Its wines. Although it would not essentially carry the identical cachet as a area like Northern California, France, and even the Douro Valley in Portugal, what it does have on its aspect is time. Tons and plenty of time. As a result of Greece has been making wine for greater than 6,000 years. And you may sip on all that historical past at one distinctive island winery.
Tucked away on the island of Tinos, a tiny island within the Cyclades archipelago, you may discover T-Oinos, a winery that holds all that historical past in its plump little grapes, that are stated to have grown right here for a lot of the nation’s 6,000-year wine historical past.
Attending to this winery does take a bit of labor. You will need to wind and weave your manner by means of the mountainous terrain on this in any other case diminutive island, driving from the azure waters, by means of white-washed cities, fields of flowers within the spring and summer time, all the way in which as much as its craggy peak. There, you are met with a Martian panorama punctuated by huge boulders, stated to be the “remnants of a legendary battle between gods and giants,” in response to the winery. In much less fantastical phrases, the winery explains, these granite rocks shaped some 15-25 million years in the past, formed by the distinctive surroundings, together with the new summer time days and chilly winter nights, the excessive humidity, and salty air, making all of them into excellent spheres. Nevertheless, this winery’s actual secret is the “meltemi wind,” which comes from the north and retains temperatures decrease than the remainder of the area.
It is between these rocks that vacationers will discover the traditional vines, which produced wines for 1000’s of years till it was deserted within the 1800s, as these residing on the island have been compelled to desert wine manufacturing, changing it with conventional farming because of a scarcity of funds. Fortunately, the winery bought an overhaul 25 years in the past by Alexandre Avatangelos and Gerard Margeon to show it again right into a working winery bottling a few of Greece’s greatest wines.
It is easy to see the meticulous effort and care the duo put into the terroir as you wander by means of the vines. T-Oinos wines are made utilizing strict natural and biodynamic rules, an concept that’s of the utmost significance to its grasp vigneron, Stéphane Derenoncourt, who believes in minimal intervention to maintain the grapes as pure as potential from farm to bottle and guaranteeing the land can proceed to supply for 1000’s of years to come back.
The vineyards are strategically positioned to permit the grapes to tackle distinctive traits, together with the Stegasta plateau, a virtually 20-acre plot situated 1,541 toes above sea degree. The soil right here is unfastened and sandy, on high of granite bedrock, which is a problem for rising grapes, little doubt. Nevertheless, the granite soil and the ocean air give the Assyrtiko wine grapes (introduced over from cuttings from Santorini) a definite minerality that you just’d be hard-pressed to seek out anyplace else. There’s additionally the Rassonas and Agios Dimitrios terraces, situated at 1,200 toes only a bit down the hill. The primary sits on clay schist soil and faces east, rising Mavrotragano grapes for its Clos Stegasta pink. The second, even additional down towards the valley, is within the full solar on sandy schist soil, which permits all of the winery’s Mavrotragano grapes to develop in their very own microclimate, offering high quality reds, every giving a singular style in each T-Oinos bottle.
The winery produces simply 25,000 bottles a yr, as soon as once more showcasing its dedication to high quality over amount. Vacationers can come for a tour and a tasting, which incorporates time within the winery, within the cellar, and concludes within the tasting room, with tastings of its Clos Stegasta Asyrtiko, Mavrosé, and Shut Stegasta Mavrotragano wines. You could even get fortunate and have the prospect to buy a bottle of its Clos Stegasta Assyrtiko Uncommon or Mavrotragano Uncommon. If you cannot make all of it the way in which to the island, you possibly can generally discover bottles in high eating places round Athens and Mykonos and the U.S., France, Switzerland, the UK, Japan, and Italy in extraordinarily restricted portions. Nevertheless, should you can, it is price an in-person go to. As a result of how typically are you able to say you’ve got sipped uncommon wines on the battleground of gods?