Stilianou Winery near Knossos
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan
grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than
quantity.
Ioannis Stilianou
'I prefer to make small quantity but high quality,' Ioannis
Stilianou tells us as we tour his winery outside the village of Kounavi. The
village has a long association with wine-making, and no doubt people like Ioannis
were making wine for the Minoans at the Palace of Knossos, which is a 15-minute
drive to the north.
The Stilianou Winery is near Knossos on Crete
All Photos (c) Mike Gerrard and Donna Dailey for Greece Travel Secrets
It's a very scenic drive too, and well worth making to visit
this winery, which is signposted thanks to the brown signs being posted
everywhere on Crete these days by the Wines
of Crete organisation. Cretan wine is booming, and touring wineries like
Stilianou is increasingly popular.
The Stilianou Winery
It was late afternoon when we arrived, the perfect time of
day. Ioannis greeted us and we gazed out over his vineyards which stretch out
below his winery to distant mountains beyond. The vines cover seven hectares
(17 acres) and produce 20,000 bottles a year, every one of which is numbered.
The Stilianou Winery's Vineyards
'It takes us 2-3 weeks to do all the harvesting,' Ioannis
says. 'Everything is done by hand. We are completely organic, and only use
Cretan grape varieties.'
Ioannis is a gentle and quietly-spoken man, and clearly very
content with his life, as well as passionate about making the best wine he
possibly can. It's a wine you won't find available in shops on Crete, only at
the winery and in several top restaurants, such as the fabulous Tamam in Chania.
Barrels at the Stilianou Winery
The winery is small and a tour doesn't take long. First
Ioannis leads us into the cellar.
'The cellar is five metres underground,' he tells us, 'and
maintains a temperature of 13-17 degrees, all year round. First the grapes go
into a separator, to extract the juice, and the red grape juice goes into the
vats.'
Ioannis Stilianou
Ioannis makes one red wine, one white wine and one rosé, and
a red dessert wine from sun-dried grapes, kotsifali grapes which first spend
ten days drying in the sun. It's the same grape also used to make raisins.
'The white and rosé are young wines,' Ioannis explains, 'and
they are ready in 5-6 months. The red wine, though, spends 2-3 years in a vat, and
then it goes into French oak barrels for a further two years, and then back
into the vat for another 2-3 years. In total we make about 2,000 bottles of
rosé each year, and 1,000 bottles of dessert wine, and the other 17,000 is red
and white wine.'
Some Stilianou Wines
After seeing how the wine is made, we go back upstairs to enjoy
a tasting of the wines. Ioannis serves us breadsticks and some of his own olive
oil, which is wonderfully rich and thick.
A Stilianou Wine-Tasting
'First we try Theon Dora White,' Ioannis says, pouring a
generous measure. 'This is made from a blend of the traditional Cretan grape
varieties of vilana, vidiano and thrapsathiri. It's fruity yet earthy, thanks
to the limestone terroir. It's an easy-drinking light summer wine which is very
good with seafood.'
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
Next in line is the Theon Dora Dry Rosé, made from two other
Cretan grape varieties: kotsifali and mantilari.
It tastes crisp yet fruity, and although it's a dry wine the flavours of
apricot and peach lend it a certain natural sweetness too.
Wine Bottles in the Stilianou Cellar
'The wine spends about 11 hours with the skins,' Ioannis
explains, 'but it can vary from 7-15 hours depending on the year. It's very
dry, and good with seafood, pasta or chicken. It's a summer rosé.'
It certainly is, and every bit as good as rosés we've had
from Provence. Ioannis then pours us each a glass of his Thion Gi Dry Red Wine.
Ioannis Stilianou pouring Wine at a Wine-Tasting
'The name means Land of the Gods,' Ioannis tells us. 'It's a
dry red wine from the traditional Cretan grape varieties of kotsifali and mantilari.
It's matured in French oak barrels and has fruits and spices flavours. This
spends two years with the skins, and two years in French oak barrels. It will
keep for several years without a problem. It has a very herbal nose. Smell the
sunshine!'
The Wine-Tasting Menu
Finally we sample the dark red dessert wine, called simply Kotsifali. It's a lush and
beautifully rich colour, with a taste to match.
'This is made purely from kotsifali grapes,' Ioannis says,
'and is the only kotsifali dessert wine in Greece. It's a difficult grape, a
difficult process to make it. It's very raisiny, not sweet, and has a pruney
taste. It's a very good aperitif too, but also good with fruit and ice cream as
a dessert wine.'
Ioannis is clearly proud of his wines, and so he should be.
Little wonder some people on TripAdvisor have called this the best winery tour
on Crete.
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete
More Information
http://www.stilianouwines.gr
Our visit to the Stilianou Winery was arranged by the excellent
Go Crete tour company.
And here's a short video we did with Ioannis Stilianou about Cretan grape varieties:
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