March 26th, 2010

Julia Harding MW visited Greece last week, and already published a first story about it on Jancis Robinson's website.

We are very honoured that we had the opportunity to welcome her to our stand during the Oenorama wine fair, and are even more proud that she includes us in her first article.After obtaining Ms. Harding's permission we are citating two parts of her article that comment on our wines.
Our below citations of her article can be read in full on Jancis Robinson's website:

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201003253.html

"Greeks not resting on their laurels"

In an end- of- year school report when I was about 13, a teacher warned that I should not rest on my laurels. At the time I was outraged in typically adolescent style and failed to consider the Hellenic origins of this phrase. Now, during a week in Greece, first at the Oenorama wine fair in Athens, organised by journalist Constantine Stergides, and then in various regions of the Peloponnese, from Monemvasia in the south to Patras in the north, the phrase and that incident came back to me, especially when I tasted Lyrarakis intensely bay/ laurel- scented wine made from the Cretan variety Daphni(daphni is Greek for 'laurel'; pictured here).

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Greece is a big, sprawling country so on this trip I stayed within the Peloponnese, and I will be reporting on my visits to Nemea, Mantinia (stress on the final i, please), Monemvasia and Patras in full. But Oenorama and a weekend in Athens allowed me to taste more widely around the country. Particularly impressive were the wines of Crete

Lyrarakis is pushing the boat out with wines made not only from better- known local varieties such as Kotsifali and Mandelaria but also from Thrapsathiri, Vidiano and Plyto - their barrel-fermented Ipidromos Vidiano was a delicious combination of ripe fruit, spice and complex minerality.

Ms. Harding refers among others to 2009 “Ippodromos Vidiano”, a limited production white wine (less than 1,000 bottles) which is one of the many microvinifications we do while researching. 2009 vintage has sold out, but the barrel-fermented Vidiano 2010 vintage is expected to be available for export, as we are targetting a slightly increased production of 3,000-5,000 bottles.
Dafni and Plyto are two grape varieties that Lyrarakis family has revived, rescuing them from extinction back in the late eighties. The monovarietal wines that result from the grapes have gained international recognition in Europe and abroad.

Lyrarakis is looking for agents/importers in the UK. More info: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it