About the Winery

Mylonas

The history of Mylonas winery dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In 2000 the winery passed to brothers Stamatis and Antonios Mylonasa, a dynamic third generation and quickly after the release of the first bottling in 2006 it gained esteem and was recognized as one of the most upcoming producers in the Attica region.

The self-described ‘micro-winery’ of twelve hectares is situated in the red clay-limestone of Keratea, Attica and practices organic farming. This region has been the historical engine for bulk retsina production, and the dominant variety, Savatiano (Greece’s most planted by hectarage) has consequently suffered a poor reputation, but the Mylonas brothers’ beautiful old bush vines yield wines of true concentration, character, finesse, and pedigree. Working with old, non-irrigated vines, low yields and with great care in the winery using both modern and traditional techniques such as clay amphora, they manage to uniquely express the local terroir and the beauty of the Savatiano grape variety.

About the Winery

Cantina di Soliera

Cantina di Soliera is a cooperative winery and is part of an interprovincial group of wineries that boast a large and efficient production centre on the territory with a century of experience.

The group leader is the Cantina di Limidi winery, established in 1923, which then incorporated other wineries: Sozzigalli winery in 1957, Soliera winery in 1982, and Rolo winery in 2014. Today, the extensive wine-making activity involves the production of 25,000 tons of grapes.  

The Cantina di Soliera holds the record for the quantitative production of Lambrusco di Sorbara. For many years, a zoning project has been underway to extend the area of grape cultivation from the left bank of the Secchia river, a famous affluent of the Po, to the right bank, in accordance with tradition. The cooperative currently has 422 members, and the production facility displays historic photographs that attest to the past and present of the Cantina di Soliera. The true protagonist is Lambrusco, a wine whose authentic and extraordinary spirit brings together the cuisine, the people, and the traditions of this hospitable land of Emilia-Romagna.

About the Winery

Aphros

Founded in 2002, Aphros is a project that combines ecological and economic aspects to create true sustainability. They believe that nature and labour should combine in a meaningful way, and they seek to capture this through Biodynamic viticulture, letting the uniqueness of the land shine through the fruit for inimitable wines. Loureiro and Vinhão have grown in these vineyards for centuries and serve as the reference point for the region.

The grapes are sourced from the Lima sub-region, and the vines of Casal do Paço are situated in a south-facing amphitheatre north of the Lima River on gentle slopes with cool Atlantic breezes.

Vasco Croft is the founder and visionary behind Aphros Wines in Portugal. Vasco is an architect by trade with a keen interest in art and philosophy. It wasn’t until he had a profound moment after sharing a bottle of wine with a Buddhist monk that he decided to start his wine project on his family’s property in Vinho Verde.

Today, Vasco and his winemaker Miguel Viseu are making beautiful wines in the basement of Vasco’s house and aging wines in their naturally cool and damp cave. Aphros’ viticulture is rooted in Biodynamics and sustainability while using minimal human intervention to capture the essence of the terroir.

About the Winery

Suertes del Marqués

The Canary Islands, located off the coast of Morocco, but technically a part of Spain, form a backdrop for some of the most unlikely yet wondrous vineyards for producing fine wines in the entire world.

In a valley facing North and North east on the cooler, ocean-influenced North-facing part of the Island is the Valle de la Orotava DO and home to the vineyards of Suertes Del Marques.  The vineyards are on very steep hillsides rising up from the sea, between 400 and 700 meters elevation. This part of the island is often 15-20 degrees cooler than the much hotter and sunnier south side of the island. Like the extreme Sonoma Coast in CA, this area is often under cloud cover which protect the grapes from the powerful sun rays. In fact, Tenerife is at the same latitude as Central Florida, and well out of the 30-50 latitude range that is often considered the 'rule' for making fine wines.

Visiting the vineyards of Suertes del Marques is like going back in time.  The area is Phylloxera free and so the vines are pie franco (own rooted) and extremely old, with some potentially over 200 years!  Many of the vines are trained using a unique method to this area called Cordon Trenzado where the vines spread out in long braids of wood, some up to 15-20 feet from the mother trunk! The varietal mix here is like a treasury of lost and little know grapes: Listan Negro and Blanco, Malvasia Rosado, Vijariego, Baboso Negro and more, about 80% red and 20% white.

Given the extremely special nature of what Suertes del Marques possesses, proprietor Jonatan Garcia Lima works all his vineyards organically and all by hand and with the utmost care and respect for nature and the history. And from these amazing and unique vineyards, he endeavors to make fresh, tensile and mineral driven wines that showcase the volcanic soils and the native varieties.  To achieve his objective, through years of experimentation and refinement, he has divided up the slope into parcels to achieve a hierarchy (much like a slope in Burgundy) as well as a unique vineyard signature to each of his top Cru wines.  These various parcels have names like El Ciruelo, El Chibirique, El Esquilon and La Solana. The parcel wines are also grouped by soil type, with gold capsules indicating more "sandy" soils and silver capsules more clay over the bedrock of volcanic subsoils. 

To achieve the utmost purity and refinement to the wines, all work in the cellar is done with a minimum of interference. This includes all indigenous yeast fermentations, use of neutral large oak barrels with minimal racking and added sulphur during the élévage. He also is a believer of using a decent percentage of whole clusters in fermentation for these native varietals, having been inspired by tasting and visiting in areas like Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. At bottling, there is also a minimum of filtration with the wines just passing through a large screen to remove any unwanted remnants, stems, grape skins, etc.

The resulting wines are super pure, and without artifice. They most certainly reflect the terroir from which they come. On both the reds and whites, they are fresh and bright with a strong underlying volcanic minerality, which Jonatan says can sometimes be misconstrued as reduction. Nonetheless,the wines themselves can sometimes be a little reduced, particularly in the months after bottling given the minimal racking and low SO2. If so, he recommends a nice decant before serving. He says. "if I wanted to make simple, fruity wines, without this pronounced 'Volcanic' character, I would have to use artificial yeast and new oak!" Obviously, not the kind of wines he or we are looking for from this unique terroir! All in all, these are extremely versatile wines and can pair beautifully with a range of foods.