Contents
Out And About
Return Trip to Dourakis Winery
In March 2008 we reported on an extremely enjoyable trip that a group of us made to Dourakis Winery. Last month the Bugle team paid a return visit, and once again had a grand time. Dourakis winery is a family run concern located at Alikampos, near Vrysses (on the road towards Sfakia). The winery was set up in 1986 by Andreas Dourakis when he returned to Crete after having spent some years in Thessaloniki and Germany; whilst he was in Germany Andreas studied oenology and worked in several wineries. Andreas started by cultivating his father’s vines, then expanded by purchasing some of the surrounding land. Now, 23 years later the business is thriving and keeps the whole family occupied!
The winery produces about 90,000 bottles of wine annually (white, rosé and red), of which about 5% is exported abroad. Some wine is made using grapes from the Dourakis family’s own vineyard but the bulk of the grapes used are bought in from other suppliers. The grapes used are a mix of local Cretan varieties and foreign strains, and currently two of the wines produced (one white and one red) are officially designated as organic (Dourakis Selection ’Επιλογές’ Organic White 2008, and Dourakis Cabernet Sauvginon 2007). Tours of the winery which include a wine tasting and mezes / lunch may be arranged by appointment (you’ll find all the relevant contact details at the bottom of this article).
We paid 20 euros a head for a full blown four course lunch with ‘generous sampling’ (no we don’t spit the wine out here!) of four different wines. We tried the Dourakis Selection Επιλογές Organic White 2008 first. This dry white was crisp and fresh and was accompanied by a selection of appetizers: feta cheese, olives, roasted peppers and a homemade potato omelette. With our second course - which included aubergines ‘papoutsaki’ style and sautéed liver - we sampled a rosé: Dourakis Grenache Rouge 2008. This wine has been a Bugle favourite for some time now and once again it lived up to expectations! Our main course was roast lamb, with which we drank the organic Dourakis Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, a young light red. Finally, for the dessert course (sweet cheese pies with honey) we were offered an ’unlabelled’ dessert red. Delicious!
Since we were there last time, some changes have been made. The winery has built an additional wine cellar, and now has its own shop and small museum. They have also developed their own website where you can purchase wine online! What hasn’t changed at all, though, is the warm welcome and generous hospitality that we received from the Dourakis family. Once again we say thank you for a great time.
Contact details: Winery Dourakis Andreas, 73007, Alikampos Chania. tel: +30 28250 51761, Fax: +30 28250 51761.
e-mail: info@dourakiswinery.gr website:
www.dourakiswinery.gr
Surprisingly Subdued World Tourism Day
Sunday 27th October was World Tourism Day. In times past, World Tourism Day has been a big thing in Rethymnon, but in the last couple of years it seems to have gone off the boil. This year we were originally told that there would be a whole weekend of events to mark the occasion. However, many of the planned activities were cancelled for one reason or another. An award ceremony to honour contributors to the industry took place on the Sunday, there was also a free buffet and raki sampling, but that was about it. And while it is clearly important to pay tribute to movers and shakers in the tourism sector, people might want to start thinking about the length of their speeches. The award ceremony lasted two and a half hours and was hardly riveting in terms of entertainment value. Bearing in mind the importance of tourism to the town’s economy, it seems short - sighted not to make more of this occasion. As we recall, we said pretty much the same thing last year, too. Let’s hope we see some changes in 2010
Prevelakis Plea: Whilst we are on the subject of how (not) to go about promoting tourism in Rethymnon, we bring you this plea from our dear friend ‘Australian Elizabeth’ who visited us in Rethymnon last year. Elizabeth writes: ‘As it is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Prevelakis, perhaps The Bugle could start a campaign to have Tale of a Town re-issued in an English language version. On my last visit to Rethymnon, I was horrified to find that this classic text was available only in German in the tourist shops in town.’ And so say all of us! Get those printers rolling!
