Wine tasting in Crete: The nature, the estate, the vineyard

Wine tasting ultimately offers an authentic tour in Crete among beloved Greek wines at your table, from nature, the estate, the vineyard.

As a mission to spread the culinary tradition of a place and highlight local products and its producers, wine tasting evenings are part of this condition, offering a unique dialogue of quality and taste. Through the wine tasting, an entire narrative is “transferred” to your table, from the nature itself, from the estate, from the vineyard. The flavors are stirred with the texture of each wine and the local varieties are connected and bridged with the international ones creating tasty white, red, rosé delights.

At the vineyard you discover Wine in Time, Nature and History. You explore and discover the typical characteristics of the microclimate (terroir) which ultimately offer you an authentic wine tasting tour. An Experience among beloved Greek wines, in distinct and different varieties and flavors each time they are hosted at your table and introduce you to their very own “identity” and “quality”.

The storyline of Paraskeva family commences in 1950 carries out a “coupling” and a “partnership” of wine and tsikoudia offering an authentic proposal and experience. A project whose starting point is due to Ioannis Paraskevas, Winegrower and Distiller with great love for the Cretan land and its wine-making varieties. From the cultivation of privately owned vineyards he “passed” to the production of wine with the process of regional winemaking, while at the same time he utilised effectively the well-known “seductress” tsikoudia.

In Malevizi, at that time as well as in wider Crete, some vines were called “logada”, because in a single vineyard many different wine-making grape varieties were planted. Thus, Ioannis Paraskevas managed to collect 40 acres of cultivable vineyards in Sarcho Malevizi and in the wider area of Heraklion Prefecture. Sometime in 1973 he became a pioneer of his time as he manufactured concrete winemaking tanks and large capacity presses.

Great love and passion, elements combined with know-how are transferred directly to the next generation which, through a modern winery and distillery, unfolds a narrative from past to the present…More specifically, 40 years later, the next generation takes over the reins, with 2013 being a turning point for the family, as the winery’s modern facilities were manufactured with absolute respect for tradition, while still listening to modern winemaking methods.

In 2015 they became members of Wines of Crete and turned their attention to the production and bottling of local varieties such as Vidiano, Moschato Spinas, Liatiko, Kotsifali and Mandilari. The privately owned acres of vineyards of Paraskeva family reach 70 in the wider area of Sarcho Malevizi, where the winery and distillery are located with the total bottles produced annually amounting to 35,000.

Your wine tasting in Crete starts with the “Senses” of malagouzia and Moschato spina to “guide” you to a singular vineyard at the foot of Psiloritis…

From an altitude of 240 meters, all those special characteristics of two floral varieties that coexist in “Senses Aromatica” are “transferred” to the glass. A unique and delicate bouquet of rose petals and jasmine flowers with a background of tropical fruits such as mango and lychee, welcomes you to an authentic wine setting in Crete.

The “Archos” series with two excellent labels appears on your table and presents you its white and pink version. This “god of wine” as archos in the 5th century means hero, god first invites you to enjoy the rosé version, a partnership between Lianikos and Moschato Spinas. In both varieties, classic white vinification was carried out separately, choosing the late summers. The seductive floral aromas of rose and jasmine strongly continue their action and appearance aromatically and gustatory granting you the opportunity to relish a “mythical” refreshing acidity of an excellent balance.

“Archos White” will quickly gain your attention at the tasting table as it is a favorite blend of Moschato Spinas and Vidiano with each variety vinified and aged separately for 4 months. The golden brown highlights challenge you to notice and discern the use of cask with the sweet aromas of apricot and jasmine embracing the vanilla sensations of French oak.

This particular wine tasting journey in Crete could not fail to end in a vineyard named “Lagara” at an altitude of 300 m. with Mandilaria inviting you to an incarnadine wine pleasure. During vinification, the grapes are taken to the tank alongside stems, while the batonage process takes place 3 times a day, while one week after the completion of fermentation, remain for (12) twelve months in third-use French oak barrels. “Mandilari Lagara” orchestrates a purple and bright flavor narrative with its aromatic palette “visiting” caramelised plums, wet herbs of the Cretan land, jammed sour cherry and every element that characterizes an aged Mandilari.

A few kilometers outside of Heraklion, Crete, in Finikia, which has an altitude of approximately 40 meters above sea level, the Estate of Thalassinos Microwinery introduces visitors to the art of viticulture and winemaking. Its people have a long history in agriculture and viticulture for more than 3 generations with the love and respect for nature and the environment being perpetuated and effectively transferred to the next generation.

This particular winery focuses on the production of natural wines according to the principles of biodynamic and natural cultivation. The intervention in the estate is minimal and the majority of the work is done manually. A condition that has a positive effect on the environment with the aim of the lowest energy footprint. After all, sustainable gastronomy is a very important key to the protection and sustainability of the planet.

Your wine tasting experience in Crete can certainly begin with a trip to childhood memories. And “Lost Oenosence” is the exact one that this journey can offer you. Rosé and chic derived from a natural and spontaneous variety and vinification that is at the same time foreign but fully harmonized has the magic to “turn you” into the years of lost innocence.

These carefree and completely spontaneous vintages are “stirred” with charm by “Mikros Taraxias” which was born from the immense love of the producers for the local varieties and the Cretan land. In White and Rosé, is hosted at your wine tasting table and “stirs up” the waters due to its wild and local appearance.

Through Melesses, a village a few kilometers outside of Heraklion and among vineyards and olive groves, Domaine Paterianakis stands out in the viticultural zone of Crete and introduces its own philosophy and its own wine route which spans 3 generations.

This is the first domaine in the region of Crete that initiated to produce wines from organic grapes. With a special passion and knowledge for organic cultivation as well as for the creation of wines with a distinct and strong personality, in the 160 acres of vineyards that grow around the winery, the people of the domaine cultivate native, often rare varieties to which international varieties have been added. All were selected to be adapted to the local soil and climatic conditions, resulting in the production of unique, globally recognized and award-winning wines.

At the “agenda” of the domaine products, recently was added Paradisos tsikoudia, fine and single varietal with aromas and flavors from 100% Cretan grape varieties.

Through a glass of “natural, pure and superior” wine, your tasting experience will surely be perfectly combined with the love for nature as well as with the authentic aromas it offers. Organic wines “unfold” their own storytelling and “support” the effort for a better environment and a sustainable future.

These are authentic and natural wines in the production of which there is no use of chemical or synthetic fertilizers and the earth is treated as a living and receptive organism.

Discovering and Enjoying Melissino White 2020, your experience will surely begin by seeing yellow-green and greenish highlights. With its aromatic palette lying between tropical and ripe fruits and with the balance distinguishing it from beginning to end. The local Moschato Spinas variety could not be missing from the wine tasting and not represented by the Moscato Spinas 2020 of the domaine, which conveys white flowers, fresh rose petals, jasmine and violet to your glass and to your taste. An all time classic wine with the dominant sweet notes of Moschato creating a unique wine experience.

For rosé lovers, Kotsifali and Syrah varieties created Melissinos Rosé 2020, an intense wine with a special personality. A bright rosy “body” with an excellent fruity and spicy sensation appears at your tasting table with the butterscotch element surprising and taking center stage.

The encounter with the Domaine Paterianakis “through a glass of natural wine” concludes with Melissinos Erythro 2017. A dynamic and powerful wine proposal from the Syrah variety where its deep and purple color along with red fruits, chocolate and your coffee convey a full, spicy and fruity wine tasting experience.