I forgot I picked this up while studying abroad. Ayrarakis 2017. Anyone know anything about this vineyard or wine?
I forgot I picked this up while studying abroad. Ayrarakis 2017. Anyone know anything about this vineyard or wine?
by LonelyShadowMoor
9 Comments
fluxural
wow, i just commented about this winery maybe a week or two ago! they’re from crete, near heraklion, the center of the island. this was actually the first winery i visited where it “clicked” what wine could be, as i really only knew the major players from france and italy and california. i was naive, yes, to assume greece didn’t have their own grapes, and it was one of those discovery moments that made me want to dive so much deeper into wine! this winery was really fascinating to me because they tore out all of their international varietals to replant greek grapes. it’s just an inspiring story to me to do such a risky, long-term move, of tearing out vines that are just about guaranteed to sell for your indigenous and ancestral varietals, given the history of wine in greece. https://www.lyrarakis.com/en/home
Nice fresh, slightly herby white wine. Smells a bit of bay leaves. Might be a bit tired now, but maybe it’s still good. I remember it has plenty of acidity so it might have held on.
MaximumAd2023
Love this wine. Dafni is a very rare grape, the word means ‘laurel’ in greek. Really unique flavour, best described as ‘green’. You have a lot of nice herbs (laurel), bay leaves, etc. Lyrarakis is the only producer I’ve tried it from and it’s superb.
Stormyy98x
Lyrarakis is one of the notable wineries of Crete, there’s a big emphasis in Greece for preserving the indigenous varieties of the country, if I’m not mistaken there are over 300 and we are still studying all the different clones etc etc. The problem is that it’s very difficult for someone who is not Greek to try and explore those grapes and regions since you have no guarantee of the quality.
As of now there are 33 PDO regions over the country, wines with that qualification status are always pretty good quality as far as I can tell. You should also try to find some good Vidiano from Crete, it’s more popular than Dafni, look it up
scoc89
Visited this winery in 2021, meant to stay for a short time but ended up spending entire day there. Staff was incredibly friendly, one of the best vineyard experiences I’ve had.
200pf
Great bottle. Definitely recommend opening.
agmanning
I’ve had a wine from this producer and enjoy e it, but don’t remember it. Sorry.
9 Comments
wow, i just commented about this winery maybe a week or two ago! they’re from crete, near heraklion, the center of the island. this was actually the first winery i visited where it “clicked” what wine could be, as i really only knew the major players from france and italy and california. i was naive, yes, to assume greece didn’t have their own grapes, and it was one of those discovery moments that made me want to dive so much deeper into wine! this winery was really fascinating to me because they tore out all of their international varietals to replant greek grapes. it’s just an inspiring story to me to do such a risky, long-term move, of tearing out vines that are just about guaranteed to sell for your indigenous and ancestral varietals, given the history of wine in greece. https://www.lyrarakis.com/en/home
they specialize in grapes that are nearing or in extinction, such as this dafni grape. https://winesofgreece.org/varieties/dafni/
you should get some strong herbal notes, light citrus, and overall it should be a softer wine since the alcohol content is low.
I did a post and note on it last year, really seriously unique and cool!! [enjoy ](https://www.reddit.com/r/wine/s/0h8iVuXf6k)
Nice fresh, slightly herby white wine. Smells a bit of bay leaves. Might be a bit tired now, but maybe it’s still good. I remember it has plenty of acidity so it might have held on.
Love this wine. Dafni is a very rare grape, the word means ‘laurel’ in greek. Really unique flavour, best described as ‘green’. You have a lot of nice herbs (laurel), bay leaves, etc. Lyrarakis is the only producer I’ve tried it from and it’s superb.
Lyrarakis is one of the notable wineries of Crete, there’s a big emphasis in Greece for preserving the indigenous varieties of the country, if I’m not mistaken there are over 300 and we are still studying all the different clones etc etc. The problem is that it’s very difficult for someone who is not Greek to try and explore those grapes and regions since you have no guarantee of the quality.
As of now there are 33 PDO regions over the country, wines with that qualification status are always pretty good quality as far as I can tell. You should also try to find some good Vidiano from Crete, it’s more popular than Dafni, look it up
Visited this winery in 2021, meant to stay for a short time but ended up spending entire day there. Staff was incredibly friendly, one of the best vineyard experiences I’ve had.
Great bottle. Definitely recommend opening.
I’ve had a wine from this producer and enjoy e it, but don’t remember it. Sorry.
Tastes like bay leaves.