Lyrarakis Estate Reviving Dafni
On Crete, the largest of the Greek islands, Lyrarakis Estate has spearheaded the movement to revive one of the island’s oldest and rarest grapes: Dafni.
Lyrarakis Estate
Founded in 1966, family-run Lyrarakis Estate focuses on local, often rare, Cretan varieties. Located in Irakleo (or Heraklion) just east of the island’s center, the winery and vineyards sit near the idyllic Lassithi mountains. Here the family has worked hard to revitalize rare grapes like Dafni, Plyto, and Melissaki.
And how’s this for timely? Lyrarakis Estate was named as one of Wine & Spirits Magazine Top 100 this year!
Dafni
The grape’s name comes from δάφνη, the Greek word for laurel/bay leaf as the wine produced from these grapes shares some similar aromas. The grapes grow in large, loose bunches. Their thick skins (and the airflow through the loose bunches) contribute to their ability to resist fungal diseases and drought. It’s a high yielding variety so green-harvesting and strict pruning are essential.
On the other side of Crete in the Chania archeology museum, you’ll find a bronze-age copper vessel. On it are the words: “Dafnitos Oinos” (wine made from Dafni) which supports the theory that Dafni is not only one of the oldest grape varieties known, but that it might also be the oldest recorded grape variety still in production.
Lyrarakis Estate Dafni Psarades, 2019
Lyrarakis started planting its Dafni in a vineyard called Psarades at 480 meters in the early ’90s. While the vines don’t yet approach “old vine” status (certainly nowhere near as old as the grape itself!), they’ve had plenty of time to dig in and establish themselves here.
Much like the thought they put into rescuing this grape, they put a lot of thought into the wine itself. First, 5% of the juice in the wine came from early harvested grapes which fermented separately from the remaining 95% and that spent 10 hours macerating on the skins. After both batches fermented, the wine aged on the lees for four months before bottling.
I had some mild concern when I opened the bottle because the cork was iffy. Happily, no harm to the wine! It poured a bright, clean, green-straw.
Hahaha, my notes for this say “oooo”. Which means that cork really didn’t do the wine any harm! The wine had a rich and fruity character with mineral and cool mint details wrapped around a core of pear, pear blossom, and kumquat with a floral finish. Round and mouth filling with a medium-long finish, it paired especially well with Comté, almonds, rosemary, and goat gouda with honey (but not without the honey).