Focus on the Daskalaki estate, which is winning over more and more fans every day! No wonder why!

One evening in Crete, to accompany my little Greek dishes, I ordered a glass of white wine at random from the menu – Domaine Daskalaki – Cuv?e “Sera blanc”; the complexity, richness and energy of this wine immediately won me over. The smartphone immediately reveals that it’s a winemaker at the helm of this small biodynamic estate in eastern Crete. Shortly after I made an appointment to visit the estate, for an hour or so. I was there for three unforgettably fascinating hours.

Haroula, Irini’s daughter, welcomes me to the village of Siva, some fifty kilometers south of Heraklion, in the hills among olive trees, on a subsoil of clay and limestone. After an overview of the Vidiano grape variety (white), according to its vinification, ageing and parcel, we taste a dozen or so red wines, from different blends and vintages, and I discover SERA red 2016, a cuv?e as magnificent as the bottle suggests.

Made from grapes harvested at the end of October, in phase with the lunar calendar, this blend of Mandilaria (a native grape variety) and Cabernet Sauvignon explodes with fruit (blackberries, cooked cherries, prunes, figs, pepper) and surprises all with its roundness and velvety texture, despite the tannins that are still present, a strong character, and a gentle acidity that brings a great deal of harmony!
The eight-month ageing in French oak barrels is certainly a factor.

For the record, Haroula used the lock of her grandmother’s house as a mold to create the label, which she had to glue one by one by hand, so much so that by the end of labeling, she couldn’t put her fingerprint on the smartphone! Served at 16/18°C, it’s a perfect match for red meats such as grilled prime rib, vegetables such as stuffed peppers, mushrooms in all their forms, lasagna, duck with foie gras, strong cheeses… and so on. A very pretty bottle that puts on a show for an intensely pleasurable tasting experience! But you can also keep it, it’s made for that too.

The SERA cuv?e is also available in white, from a Plyto-Sauvignon blanc blend. Its pale yellow color, with hints of lime pulp, and its highly aromatic nose of lemon, exoticism and yellow fruit, with a hint of honey, make you wanting to bring the glass to your mouth. It’s lively with fruity flavors and citrus and peach. Although acidity is present, it unfolds harmoniously, mingling with the aromas for a long-lasting pleasure, richer than the thrilling liveliness of the first taste would suggest. The marriage of Plyto, a rare Cretan grape, that’s di?cult to work with but resists heat well, offers a perfect balance with Sauvignon Blanc, to give us a light wine with a rich bouquet that’s completely crisp! A very pretty bottle for an intensely pleasurable tasting experience.

Of course, while my attention today was focused on the SERA cuv?e, the estate’s other cuv?es are not to be outdone, far from it! The tasting on June 23rd at the magnificent Fortezza site in Rethymnon, gave me the opportunity to experience them all again! White Psithiros (Muscat de Spinas), with a lovely aromatic palette of white-fleshed fruit, chamomile and exotic fruit. On the palate, aromas become flavors, the finish is fresh, juicy and long-lastingly delicious.

Enstikto blanc: If Enstikto initially combined Chardonnay with Vidiano, that’s now over and the Vidiano proudly presents itself as a single varietal, after one year of ageing in French casks, combined in this vintage with four months of ageing in amphora, which brings amplitude and aromatic explosion to this little marvel. I really hope I’ve inspired you to discover or rediscover this small estate, which has all the makings of a big one! It’s certain that it will become one, especially as kindness, humility and talent may not be part of the tasting terms, but they are the values!

I can’t end this little introduction to the wines of Daskalaki without mentioning the GRIFFOS cuv?es, the estate’s “natural” cuv?es, which are beginning to spread everywhere, and for a good reason: the trials and work carried out to achieve this exceptional juice, are a perfect balance! The “ros?” version tasted this year is ABSOLUTELY for constant tasting, and as a blind test it’s even better! This Kotsifali is simply sublime; visually, taste-wise and intuitively.

A great French winemaker from Burgundy, Domaine Guillemot-Michel, has a cuv?e called “retour ? la terre” for a chardonnay aged in amphora. And that’s exactly what I felt when I tasted this ros? de saign?e. Is it the amphora ageing, the close-to-nature approach, the emotion of the place or just the magic of intuitive tasting… But yes, I was really brought back to earth with this glass, it’s where we come from, where we’ll go back to and from where the vines, the grapes, the winemakers’ wine emanate!

Myriam Perret / La Cave de Platonie