Tuesday, June 09, 2015

MENU's Aegean Odyssey. Day 14: Diakofto

 We set off that morning by car up the famous gorge and went to a local winery, Tetramythos
A stone clad building, with slight Swiss notes
It is located high up in the hills behind Diakofto
We did a quick tour of the modern and spotlessly clean cellar, filled with good equipment
They have their own bottling line
and are using some clay amphorae to make wine, as in ancient times
Different styles of amphora
Their barrel cellar, where we saw French, American and Hungarian barrels
In the vinoteque
Organic Cabernet Sauvignon
Some wine memorabilia and an Icon
Bottles locked away, but also available for purchase and tasting
We went upstairs to the tasting area and tasted some of the wines. The first was a Colombard Chenin Muscat blend, Roditis from Patras, with crisp acidity and long flavours. Then a Retsina with, thankfully, not much resin showing, but not great. A dry Malagousia which tasted like Muscat d'Alexandrie, perfumed & refreshing with nice acidity. Then on to red wines with the Cabernet Sauvignon which was corked but, underneath the TCA, there was incense and classic cassis notes. Our tasting guide did not understand enough English to get 'corked'
Other tourists from Athens, Alexandre and Annita Karalis, joined the tasting. Next came Black of Lalavryta, which is a local grape variety. The hit was harsh and tannic, also had TCA and was dry with dusty chalk. Perhaps you have to be born there to appreciate it. Then Agiorgitiko, another local grape. Lots of fruit with chalk coating the mouth. A fruit bomb on the nose, but a short finish
The line up of what we tasted. Back to a white wine; next, the Milia made from Sauvignon Blanc, but not at all recognisable as one. Not good. Then the Milia red, a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Black of Kalavryta. Deep cassis and black fruit, currents. Elegant, with soft tannins. 16/20.  Interesting wines, which they do export to the United States
Onward up into the mountains, where there are winter ski resorts
High on the top was this small Taverna, also with an Alpine feel
Marvellous views down towards the sea, the winery and the vineyards
Our hostess, who is a friend of Terry's
Attracting local butterflies! Terry could supply the name....
Looking across at the local village
Their sign and menu, all in Greek
Perched on the edge of the mountain, we sat in the sun and ate 'Toasties' with beers. Toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches, a Greek lunchtime tradition it seems. It was all they had that day for lunch, as the season had not yet started
Lots of wild flowers including a version of our scabious, but the flowers are unusually square
Back to Diakofto, we did a tour of the beachfront. Tall gum trees on the shore
accompanied by cork oaks and Tamarind trees
The beach is made up of lovely pebbles that are hell to walk on and the clear water is warming up for summer
It’s a shallow beach that follows the coast for miles
Across the bay far in the blue distance is Galaxidi and Delphi. This is a panoramic view of what we saw
Back to meet, Zoe, another of Terry's friends, and drink a bottle of wine bought that morning at Tetramythos. We enjoyed her company a lot, as we had lots in common, especially a love of travel
Lovely evening light. This was about 9 o'clock
Off to another village restaurant to have dinner under the mulberry trees with another friend, Dora
Dora lives in London but is originally from Crete. She is building a house in Diakofto. She was great fun
Here comes more food. Toast with oil and herbs, a Greek salad, some good fresh beetroot and some humus - with some carafes of wine
Some chips arrived and Terry produced a surprise bottle of Vondeling Petit Blanc which he had bought when he was in Cape Town in January
We were next to the small harbour
Then the fish arrived. It was bream, fresh from the sea and delicious
The restaurant filling up
We preferred to sit across the road under the trees
And the evening was a huge success and typically Greek. But sadly (!) no plate breaking and no Greek dancing. Perhaps it doesn't suit the current mood of the country
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015

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