Douloufakis Winery

Crete is one of my favourite destinations. I love the people, the food, the wine, the diversity of the landscape, the beaches, the ancient monuments. There are just so many things to see and do, it’s never enough when I’m there. Just before the Christmas holidays, I decided to allow myself a long weekend to visit friends and to go out to Daphnes to meet Nikos Douloufakis, who makes a lovely sparkling wine from Vidiano grapes (indigenous white varietal).

Daphnes is about a twenty minute drive from the city of Heraklion and the landscape is stunning. Hills planted with vines and some olive trees, limestone soils with stone and chalk (which retains water), a view of the sea, and a lovely breeze that makes its way up from there to the vines. This breeze is particularly important in the hot summer months, because it regulates temperatures and allows for diurnal variation, thus preserving aromas and acidity.

I arrived at the winery with my friend, who had organised the meeting, and we were shown into the tasting room/ sales point. Spacious, with quite a few tables for tastings, a wall showcasing some of the winery labels and behind a glass partition a cellar with neatly stacked bottles. Nikos Douloufakis hurries in to meet us, smiling, unassuming, polite. I am very grateful to him for this meeting as I know he has to rush off in a couple of hours to catch a plane to an upcoming wine exhibition.

Nikos took over the winery in 1990 and started making wines in 1996. The third generation to produce wines. His grandfather started viticulture and produced wines made of Liatiko, Kotsifali, Mandilari (all indigenous red grape varieties), field blends, that were transferred in goat skin, and also raki (grape distillate). White wines were not made, it was either red or rosé. Nikos’s father continued and actually bought a Vaslin press in 1976. Quite an acquirement at the time.

Nikos went to Alba to study oenology. I wondered how he chose the place and smilingly he said:  “My brother was studying architecture in Milan and I asked him to look around for good schools. He came up with one in Alba and one in Conegliano, but Alba was renowned for red winemaking, whereas Conegliano was mainly for sparkling wines. So, I chose Alba.”

After his 4 year studies, he spent a harvest with Cerretto and returned to Crete in 1993. Later, in his search for a company to exchange winemaking ideas, experiences and marketing of wines, he contributed to the foundation of the very successful Wines of Crete.

In 1994 and 1995 he made some experimental wines from a pre-phylloxera Liatiko he discovered. His first official wine in 1996 was a Liatiko PDO. “You know in Crete they make traditional Marouva wines (wines with oxidative ageing made from Romeiko that are vinified in 500-600lt barrels that have not been cleaned and still contain older wine and yeast, which result in wines of special character that is reminiscent of sherry). When I returned I found huge one ton barrels and 600lt barrels with wine. I didn’t want this wine or the barrels. I got rid of the one ton barrels and replaced them with contemporary vinifying equipment. My father was very sceptic and stated I was not to touch the 600lt barrel with the marouva wine because he was keeping it for our weddings. In 1998-1999 I blended this with fresh wine and sold it in Chania within a single day. My father was so cross with me he didn’t speak to me for months.” The fourth generation is fermenting as Nikos has three sons. One has studied wine tasting, the second winemaking and the third marketing.

The winery now produces about 400,000 bottles a year, 20 different labels from 25ha of organically certified vines and buys in from contracted producers from another 25ha. The vineyards are at 220-450m altitude, with two viticulturists at higher elevations. The soils are made up of limestone, with stone and chalk. The varieties now include Vilana, Vidiano, Malvasia di Candia, Muscat of Spinas, Sauvignon Blanc of the white varieties, Liatiko, Kotsifali, Mandilari, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sangiovese, Xinomavro and Touriga Nacional of the red varieties.

Nikos suggests we visit the vineyards and I jump at the opportunity. I’m impressed by the yellowish-white soils and the landscape. As you look toward the sea, the hills and trellised vines are set to the right and to the left with a narrow plain running down the middle, creating a corridor for the sea winds. Nikos has vineyards on both sides, so exposure changes slightly. We drive to most of the locations. I love the way he stops every now and then and bends over to touch, almost caress, the vines. Like greeting friends.

I asked Nikos how he decided to make a traditional method sparkling wine from Vidiano (Vidiano normally makes full bodied wines, with medium acidity and high alcohol, with aromas of peach, pear, bergamot, lime, chamomile and stony minerality).

“When I was studying in Alba I was enchanted by the method used to make traditional method sparkling wines. I hadn’t really contemplated making one myself until I started working with the two producers in Megali Vrisi who cultivate Vidiano at 600m altitude. This struggled to ripen in some years and that is when the idea was born in my mind. In the beginning, I made my base wine and then I carried it to Alba for the second fermentation. As of last year the whole process takes place here in Crete. The wine is Brut, with dosage on the lower end, although this changes depending on the acidity, and it stays on the lees for 24 months. Now I’m working on a rosé traditional method sparkling wine from Liatiko.”

So time for my tasting.

Douloufakis Sparkling White Wine, Traditional Method, Vidiano. A medium lemon wine that catches the eye with its constant stream of fine bubbles rising from its centre, that displays yeasty, bready notes on the nose, and aromas of pear, lemon, lime, green apple, floral notes, citrus fruit and a whiff of peach with lovely honey notes. On the palate the stone fruit is more obvious, beeswax is added to the honey notes, the wine has a medium body, crisp acidity and a longish finish that ends with the stony mineral notes characteristic of the variety. Definitely an interesting wine that displays a unique character.

The wine I tasted at the end of November 2024 had been disgorged in July 2023.

I left the winery very content. Mainly, I am so pleased to see that Greek winemaking has come such a long way in the last 30 or so years and that there are constantly new efforts which illustrate the dynamics of indigenous grape varieties.

Photo Credit belongs to Douloufakis Winery, Glass of Bubbly was granted permission to use the image.