Afianes 2024
Whadda do when a trusted bartender friend says “OMG YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!” ? well, obv, you try it! Especially when it comes in a gorgeous glass and looks stunningly garnet! And that is how I first came to try Afianes Pithari Red - I was hooked! Quite literally, I booked a ticket to Greece the next day and set out to meet this person who created this magical wine. Turns out it is a family and they are indeed magical - like the kind of magical that makes you wonder if you’ve died and gone to heaven and is this real anyway? Ya know what I mean?!
Gosh the stories I could tell you about the place!! The island of Ikaria is listed as one of the Secrets of the Blue Zone places and while I would like to think that simply drinking the wine is the magic pill, my gut says it is all the things that go into living on a small island in the middle of the Aegean Sea. Literally I wept from the sheer beauty and love that I experienced from this amazing family each day - it was and remains stunning!
Beglieri is an indigenous varietal from the island of Ikaria, Greece. The mother-vine is over 600-years old and was once abandoned. This created an amazing phenomenon that we don’t see in cultivated agriculture - the mother-vine did her own selection massale sending out tendrils that rooted and created additional vines. From above the vineyard looks like an octopus with each vine raising and descending to create another - the center (or mother-vine) is huge with each ring getting smaller and smaller.
The new vineyards are cuttings that are grafted but the Pithari White is made from this wild, previously abandoned vineyard - not available yet but gd! Get it when it is!
Litani is pure Beglieri from the younger vines. Fermented and aged in stainless steel, this dry white has some amazing acidity. Stone fruit and quince and intriguing saltiness. Can hold up to aging (definitely really changes and develops over time) or be enjoyed right now!
First mentioned in the 15th century, Fokiano is also an indigenous Greek varietal - known as or related to the renowned Pramnios Wine. A grape characterized mainly by red fruit - bing cherries dance alongside red, pie cherries with a gorgeous acidity of huckleberries and blackberries that makes your mouthwater perfectly countering the strong tannic backbone. This grape can be aged for years and years!!
Pithari Light Red is 100% Fokiano grown in sandy granite soils at an elevation of 450-meters (almost 1500 feet). This version is playing with light-extraction (only 2-days) which shows a lighter side of Fokiano. Same manual harvest with food-trodden in the traditional cyclopean stone press. Resulting juice ages without skins in amphorae buried underground and outdoors for 10 months. It was bottled unfiltered, unfined, without added sulphites.
Pronounced red fruits vibe and showing some hints of violet but decidedly lighter, fresher vibe -- tight and juicy at the same time with cherries dancing along your palate. Word to the wise - this could age but if you wanna consume it now, give it some time to relax (maybe decant or some serious swirls but don't use one of those aerators!)
Pithari Red is 100% Fokiano grown in sandy clay soil created from decomposed granite rock with low pH and high concentration in minerals and micronutrients at 450-meters (almost 1500 feet). Vines are approx. 50-years old.
For this version, the grapes are manually destemmed and squeezed in a winepress made of 5 large granite stones. The grape skins and juice are macerated for 3-5 days. Fermentation with their own yeast happens in clay jars buried in the earth in a special hold outside the winery. There is no mechanical intervention or filtering.
Darker red fruits vibe and with the same hints of violet but decidedly more tannic, plum vibes -- dark cherries balance with some acidity but the tannic structure is legit af. Amazing wine decanted but I’d age this one for sure!! Even up to 15-years (maybe more!)
Icarus is 100% Fokiano grown in sandy clay soil created from decomposed granite rock with low pH and high concentration in minerals and micronutrients at 450-meters (almost 1500 feet). This version is a more traditional red winemaking process in stainless steel containers. The juice is then aged for 12 months in neutral French oak barrels with indigenous yeast. Bottled unfiltered & unfined; without any addition of sulfur.
Rich & warm taste with soft tannins; flavors of wild cherry, black mulberry and black pepper on the tongue . Soft & long-lasting aftertaste with a definite spice showing up!
click here to purchase (if still available)