Mylonas Winery Reinventing Savatiano
For something like 15 years I worked in DC and abroad on international development programs. My specialty was media development. While I focused the longest on the Balkans, shifts in funding priorities also had me working around the Middle East, Afghanistan, Cuba, and elsewhere. While I no longer do that work, it’s because of it that I landed in Turkey. Where, after a fair few years of adulthood, I finally figured out what I want to be when I grown up. Hint: it’s about wine.
People haven’t cornered the market on self reinvention. While it requires human intervention to do so, wine also goes through transformative periods. Take for example, the entirety of the German and Austrian wine industries. Both experienced crushing scandals around the 80s. Since then they’ve worked tirelessly to claw their way back to the top. My own beloved Turkish wine industry took a 
massive blow in the 20s. It’s taken it a lot longer than Germany or Austria but Turkish wine is now changing a lot of minds. No less impactful though are smaller scale changes.
Like a phoenix, Savatiano rises from its ashes
Mylonas Winery, based in the Mesogea PGI in Attika, is one of the Greek wineries revitalizing Savatiano. While the grape itself does not need saving, its long-suffering reputation does. Savatiano has long been used for the production of retsina. For years, if anyone knew anything about Greek wine, it was retisna. And while today it might be something of a joke, it came about honestly. Before oak casks and bottles were common, pine resin was used to seal amphora and other wine vessels giving the wine held within a distinct flavor. Nowadays of course we no longer need the resin to preserve the wine but the drink stuck around. Retsina, generally not made with top quality wine, is one of those things tourists can try on the cheap. Tainting not just their opinion about retisna but about the grapes that make it as well.
Enter Mylonas. The winery’s history dates back to 1917 with the current owners’ grandfather, Antonis, growing vines and making wines. Mylonas as we know it today is run by Antonis’ three grandsons: Stamatis, Antonis, and Tasos. They’re part of a growing group of winemakers proving that Savatiano is more than just a retisna workhorse. At Mylonas particularly they highlight the effects of their Laureotiki-based, mineral-driven soil on the grape.
Savatiano is the result of a crossing of Roditis and Karystino. Planted widely in Attica and elsewhere for its drought-resistance, Savatiano has a chameleon-like quality that allows it to adapt to different soils. In addition to its use in retsina, it’s also often used in bulk table wine production. However, all that it is a-changing.
The Mylonas Savatianos
When E&M and I visited Mylonas Winery, Stamatis treated us to a tasting of their entire range. Including the six wines they make with Savatiano. Stamatis’s charm and enthusiasm for his grapes obviously transferred to his wines. We loved them all and if only I’d had more suitcase they would have all come home. Mylonas’s Savatiano vines are an average 60 years old, all bush vines, with no irrigation. They grow in sandy clay or gravel soils over limestone with high mineral content at elevations up to 350 meters.
Savatiano 2017 The Mylonas entry level Savatiano has a concentrated nose of ripe stone and yellow fruits, cream, and a hint of mineral. A soft balanced palate reveals fruit with a sage-like herb undertone. Very lovely and food friendly.
Savatiano 2016 Oak Matured aged in a combination of neutral acacia and oak barrels for a subtle effect. Ripe fruits like peaches at the height of summer, freshly baked bread, and sage entrance the nose. The palate is more herb than fruit. Peaches and lightly baked yellow apples delight on the finish.
Savatiano Naked Truth 2016 comes from one of they winery’s gravel vineyards. With the exception of a small amount of sulfur added prior to bottling, the Naked Truth is a generally natural wine. Wild fermented with 10 days on the skin (five days cold soak five days during fermentation). Aromas of pear, apple cider, fresh herb, and mineral follow through to a restrained and bone-dry palate.
Late Release Savatiano 2013 This award-winning wine shows off Savatiano’s ageing potential. Showing a much darker, intense gold color in the glass. Also intense, the aromas of ripe, juicy, sweet stone fruits. Juicy is really the best word for this wine. The palate too is highly juicy, fuller, and rounder than the younger Savatianos but with enough acidity and a higher mineral content to pull it all off.
Of course, as it is the retsina grape, we can’t leave out Mylonas’s own Retsina. My experience with retsina has been limited but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this one. Light fruit, mint, and pine aromas combine for a fresh nose. Subtly is the genius here. The pine expression on the palate is well-integrated with the fruit and herb flavors. Also genius, the label! Greek artist Nearchos Ntaskas created Mylonas’s new labels. The retsina label is particularly charming and whimsical. As Stamatis explained to us, it’s “Greek decorating style” and that all families have so many crocheted doilies around they even put them on the chickens!
The last of the Savatianos is actually a blend. Mylonas’s Sunday is a late harvest, 85% Savatiano-15% Aidani, amphora fermented, sweet wine. The wine is as much of a mouthful as the description! With 80 grams per liter residual sugar, this baby only furthered my love of Greek sweet wines. Bright and fresh fruit aromas mingle with hints of honey and lightly toasted nuts. Beautifully balanced in the mouth, sweet without being cloying and retaining a lightness with flavors of fruits and honey.
The rest of the collection
Savatiano may be the focus at Mylonas but it’s not the whole world. Stamatis rounds out his collection with a few additional wines made from other grapes.
The Malagousia 2017 is a blend of 80% steel fermented and 20% oak fermented and aged (three months) Malagousia. Aromatic with tropical fruits mingled with green/grassiness. The small amount of oak rounds out the the palate for a fuller, silky mouthfeel and flavors that reflect the nose.
The 100% Assyrtiko 2017 is fruity and bright with wet stone/mineral and tropical fruit aromas. Mouthwatering acid makes the 
flinty/chalky and exotic fruit flavors leap off the tongue. An expressive and lovely wine.
The Mylonas Malagousia Mandilaria Rosé blends 80% Malagousia with 20% of the powerful and tannic Mandilaria. Macerated together for 14 hours to create an intense salmon-peach color. Very fruity nose accompanied by Mylonas’s signature mineral quality and hints of flint smoke. Balanced and light in the mouth with a lively acidity, the rosé is a charming, food friendly wine or a good porch sipper!
The only red in the line up is a Merlot Agiorgitiko Mandilaria (2016) blend. Blending 40% each Merlot and Agiorgitiko and 20% Mandilaria then aged for six months in old French oak, the nose reveals spice and flowers, red and black fruits, and meat. Big big tannins (thank you Mandilaria!) have a slightly sandy feel to them but find a nice balance with elegant fruits.
According to Mylonas Winery: “A small bird has always an interesting story to tell. Take some time to listen.” A good message about not only Savatiano, but other little or misunderstood grapes in the vast wine world.