Cretan Wine Time!

September brought with it the start of the grape harvest on Crete. Grapes are harvested firstly in order to produce wine, then once wine production has been completed, the must is distilled to make Cretan raki (a bit like Italian grappa). As the Bugle team recently discovered, the word raki itself derives from ‘rakos’—the ancient Greek for debris — of the grape (nothing to do with the state of those enjoying a ‘Cretan Raki Night’, honest).
In recent years there has been something of a revolution in the Greek wine industry and the international reputation of Greek wine has improved beyond all measure. Gone are the days when the choice on a restaurant wine list was limited to retsina or Domestica (unkindly nicknamed ‘Domestos’ by some) and when Greek wine was the butt of jokes around the world. Since the 1990’s great strides have been made in quality viticulture—most notably on mainland Greece and the Peloponnese.

Crete is responsible for approximately 20% of the wine that is produced in Greece. The largest growing region is in the Heraklion Nomos; Sitia, to the East of the island is also noted as a centre for both wine and raki production. Wine production in the Rethymnon region, whilst not on the same scale as elsewhere, is still an extremely important local activity. Typically, the wine from the Rethymnon area tends to be village ‘barrel’ wine rather than the bottled ‘Chateau’ type. However, some local producers are now starting to branch out (pardon the pun) and experiment with different grape varieties. Plenty to tickle a wine aficionado’s taste buds, then….

The Amari Valley

The Amari Valley, south of Rethymnon, is located in one of the most mountainous, yet most fertile regions of Crete. Known as the ‘Immortal Valley of Zeus’ it is an area that still prides itself on upholding the traditional Cretan way of life. Even in mid-summer it remains largely untouched by mass tourism.
Amari is farming country, and for centuries the people of the region were largely self sufficient. Typically, each family smallholding would keep sheep, goats and chickens to produce meat, cheese and eggs, and would grow a variety of crops — fruit and vegetables– in relatively small quantities. More recently, things have changed and many farmers now specialise in growing certain crops for commercial purposes.
Agriculture in the Amari Valley is a year round activity—aside from the ubiquitous grapes and olives, you’ll find citrus fruit, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes…. the list goes on. The arts of beekeeping and cheese-making are still widely practised, the local honey is delicious and it is one of the best places on the island to try Cretan cheeses such as Kefalotiri and Misithra. Some villages are famed for particular types of produce: For example, Gerakari is known as the ‘cherry village’ and people travel from far away to buy home-made cherry preserves and liqueurs. ‘But what about the wine?’ I hear you ask. Well, people here have been producing wine since Minoan times, so it’s probably one of the better places to go to learn some of the tricks of the trade!

Manolis Kalomenopoulos, who is from Amari, was kind enough to give us a tour of his vineyards and wine press and to take us through the processes involved in producing fine Cretan wine. Manolis has been producing wine for 20 years - purely for love. He produces approximately 1200 bottles a year, bottled under his own label: ‘Nefs’. Clearly this is not enough wine to warrant being a commercial enterprise in itself. Manolis goes some way to attempt to break even by selling wine to friends and to certain local outlets – but making money isn’t the main point for him. Manolis prides himself on ‘nurturing the grape’ and embracing all that is best of traditional viticulture, whilst remaining open to new ideas. His wine is organic, through and through. He doesn’t make use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides when cultivating his vines, and there are no artificial additives in the final product. Unlike other growers in the region, Manolis does not confine himself to making wine made from indigenous grape species (on Crete there are between 10-15 varieties of truly ‘local’ grapes). For the last five years or so he has been making wine with Cabernet and Merlot grapes and is now looking forward to the joys of Syrah.
Manolis now has somewhere over 7 stremata of vines (for those who need to know: 4 stremata = 1 acre, or thereabouts). Keeping the vines healthy is pretty much a full-time job. Vines need daily maintenance from December to mid September. The two main diseases that attack the vines tend to appear from April to June (this is the time when it starts to get warmer on Crete, but when you can still expect rain), these are relatively easily combated, if caught in time. However, occasionally a disease comes that attacks the stems of the vines (the dreaded phylloxera started to cause problems on Crete in 1974), if this happens the whole vine needs to be destroyed. We asked if this year’s heat-waves had caused any damage. According to Manolis, extreme heat is far less of an issue than too much humidity— this is particularly the case once the vines have fruited. September can be an anxious time, then, harvesting the crop before the autumn rains begin.
For the wine production itself, Manolis has made a couple of nods to modern technology. Grapes are pulverised mechanically to remove grape stems, this has the advantage of removing bitterness at an early stage. The pulp is transferred to mesh bags—within the space of a traditional wine press—which allows the bulk of the juice to drain out. This takes out much of the legwork traditionally associated with treading grapes, it’s also more hygienic. The liquid drains into a sump and is then pumped into a vat for fermentation. Manolis says that it is important to get as much juice as possible out of the grapes. The first juice is insipid, with not much sugar or bouquet, it is the last juice to come from the pressing that makes the difference. He presses Cabernet and Merlot grapes separately, a blend being made after fermentation. The length of time for the fermentation depends on temperature - between 10 and 20 days is the norm. Wine is stored in oak barrels before bottling, oak is important for flavour. As to the quality of the final product? Manolis modestly says he is not an expert wine-taster, and gets his friends to pass judgement. Well, we tell you this, his wine is very good indeed. And it goes very well with a glistening local cheese….