Assyrtiko, Viola Vineyard

Here at Stainton Wines, we have always championed indigenous grape varieties, there are hundreds around the world and each has a unique character – not everything has to be Sauvignon Blanc!

Assyrtiko is one such an ancient variety, cultivated for centuries around the Adriatic and is enjoying quite a renaissance as a new generation of winemakers look to find ways of revitalising these old, sometimes sadly, unfashionable grape varieties. With the help of modern technology, they are showing the world what they are capable of.

The family owned Domaine Lyarakis winery is in Crete and crucially, as with this Assyrtiko wine, the vineyards are high enough up in the hills of Eastern Crete – around 400 to 600 metres above sea level – to escape the harshest of the Greek summer, allowing for perfect winemaking conditions.

Citrus and white stonefruit flavours with a refreshing, faintly chalky dryness which, of course, lends itself perfectly to seafood or freshwater trout.