Eleftherios Hanialidis, Master Sommelier with an extensive resume in catering and wine introduces 3 wine specials you must try and luxuriate.
Great wine requires a madman to grow the wine, a wise man to watch over it, a lucid poet to make it and a lover to drink it.
Salvador Dali
Chatzivariti Wanderlust 2022
Chloe Chatzivariti does not need special introductions, since she has repeatedly proven that is extremely good at what she does. Wanderlust is a very tasty and gastronomic rosé wine from the Xinomavro variety, fermented with indigenous yeasts and without added sulphites.
Very expressive aromatically in the glass, with the “fruit” in the forefront, with strawberry and red cherry as “main characters”, while we also monitor hints of ripe peach, sweet spoon quince, sweet tomato and jasmine flowers. “Airy” and medium-bodied in the mouth, with crisp acidity, it impresses how well-made is, even for those who may not be fans of rosé wines in general.
Αori Moschato Spinas 2022
This particular wine is the result of a collaboration between two talented young people, Aimilios Andrey and Dimitris Skouras. It is a venture that focuses on mountain vines in the prefecture of Chania, hence its name, which signifies mountain.
The grapes originate from indigenous vines, from two different plots located in Temenia Anatolikos Selinos, in Chania prefecture, at an altitude of 750 to 810 meters, which are mainly cultivated on shale soils. The number produced by this wine, for the second harvest, is only 9,500 bottles and it impresses at a first glance. “Crunchy” with a medium to light body, with notes of fresh fruit such as lime, grapefruit, white-fleshed peach and unripe melon, framed by hints of jasmine, white rose, mint and “saltiness”.
Oenops Limniona 2021
Nikos Karatzas has quite the experience and alongside Oenops project, which commenced in 2015, produces impressive wines from native Greek varieties, with minimal interventions. The grapes for this particular bottling “source” from the area of Mesenikola in Karditsa.
Alcoholic fermentation takes place with native yeasts in large open barrels with a capacity of 500 liters and in vats, while the wine then remains with the lees for 10 months in a combination of three different containers (concrete tanks, amphorae and large barrels). An incredibly fine and smooth wine, which perfectly balances the delightfully “refreshing” acidity with the velvety tannins that characterize it. Aromatically, we find hints of ripe strawberry, red cherry and cranberry, combined with notes of violet, sweet spices and wet earth.
About the author
Eleftherios Hanialidis began his career in the hospitality industry in 2001 and has worked for many years as a head sommelier but also as a consultant in restaurants, wine bars and wine retail stores. In August of 2023 became the first Master Sommelier of Greece, but has also obtained the A.S.I. Diploma (Gold Pin) back in 2018. His first time competing back in 2017, he managed to take 3rd place in the best sommelier of Greece competition, thus gaining the award of Best First Appearing Sommelier of Greece, and in 2020 won the title of the Best Sommelier of Greece. Eleftherios Hanialidis is a member of the board of directors of the Greek Sommelier Association, a columnist for Oinoxoos magazine of Kathimerini newspaper, a Star Wine List ambassador for Greece and also teaches in Genius In Gastronomy. Throughout his career, he has been a judge for several prestigious wine competitions and is constantly expanding his knowledge and skills concerning not only wine, but also sake, spirits and beers, as he is preparing for the Competition of the Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa 2024, in which he will be representing Greece.
English (UK) 
Ελληνικά