The following offer is for lovers of the ancient styles, the mystical old world reds and whites of producers such as Musar in Lebanon or López de Heredia in Rioja. These wines are feral and savory expressions of extreme Mediterranean terroir. These aren't natural wines. They're forces of nature.
Gianni Economou is a legend whispered only amongst the greatest and most in-the-know of the wine trade. Economou's niche Cretan wines are secret gems and something almost transcendental to discover. Born in the mid-60s, Economou left Crete and worked throughout Bordeaux (at Château Margaux) and Piedmont (at Scavino and Ceretto before returning to Crete in 1994. Outside of the inaugural claret release of Bordeaux varieties you'll find below, his focus is on native grapes from pre-phylloxera bush vines grown at the end of the world on the far eastern corner of Crete in a tiny appellation called Sitia. This is a remote area far from the hustle and bustle of any of Crete's population centers.
Economou channels the winemaking techniques of the ancient Minoan civilization, which has winemaking roots dating back to 1600BC. Winemaking takes place on the Ziros Plateau at 650 meters elevation in this sparse, magical corner of the world. Economou spent a substantial period training in Bordeaux and for many years he has worked on perfecting a claret that he thought was capable of placing tableside with the best in the Medoc. The 2012 is its first release. Aging is in a combination of French barriques and old barrels of various make alongside amphorae, and is finished in stainless steel. Fermentations are with indigenous Cretan yeasts. All wines are produced with a small, restrained sulfur addition at bottling to allow stability in bottle. - BRANDON KERNE, MASTER SOMMELIER
"...Whereas if you sit down with an old friend in a restaurant in Heraklion, and he suggests you try a bottle of Yiannis Economou’s 2006 Liatiko, and you discover that it looks and tastes like some kind of kinky, low-acid cousin of Barolo, and its aromatic sweetness (sniffed amid the restaurant scents of burnt sage and grilled octopus) makes you think for some reason of Byzantium, and its savoury qualities and lush tannins bond perfectly with the roast goat and bitter foraged wild greens which the Egyptian-Filipino waitress has just brought you … well, all of that is interesting. In twenty years, I may well be dead. I want as much interest as possible in my tasting life before I die." - Andrew Jefford, Decanter
The domaine’s first release of a claret. As many of you know, Gianni Economou’s work abroad in the 80’s and early 90’s took him to Piedmont, Baden, and Bordeaux. His last stop before returning to Crete to pick up his family’s vineyards was none other than Chateau Margaux. Although it took him a few years after his return in 94’, naturally he decided to plant clippings from a French nursery of both Cabernet and Merlot in 1998 on the Ziros plateau and have a go at it. As you might expect (and even though this comes from the middle of the Mediterranean) this wine is Bordelaise in style…with a mere 9 years of aging on it. Plum, cocoa, slightly sanguine, some bell pepper, blueberry, cassis, and cigar box.
