La Tour Melas 2020

Le Tour Melas can lay claim to perhaps the best Rosés and Bordeaux-style blends being produced in Greece today, alongside a truly unique wine which is maybe the country’s most premium. This began as a passion project for Kyros Melas, who in 2000, planted  vineyard at La Tour Melas just outside the village of Achinos in Central Greece, looking southwards over the Gulf of Evia. Inspired by the great red wines of Bordeaux and the pink wines of Provence, this site was decided as suitable for both after widespread soil analysis

The terroir of sloping terraces is composed of alluvial gravels of the Quaternary period and rises up to 200 meters above the sea level, just 2km from the sea itself. These gravels mainly consist of clays, sands, grits and limestone coastal conglomerates. The subsoil, more intricate and showing on the surface from place to place on the different rounded hilltops, is the reflection of a more ancient history of Greece with its marine sedimentary origins which were altered by fold plates. This subsoil comprises schist, siliceous deposits and marly limestone dating back to the Mesozoic era

Typically Mediterranean climate. Mild wet winters, with hot and dry summers. Low rainfall between 600 and 700 mm. The impact of the sea is very important as the breeze brings humidity and  cools the vines during the day, whereas the rocky soil keeps the vines warm at night. The terraces are Northeast facing. All these elements combined offer an ideal micro-climate. Farming is organic with numerous biodynamic principles, pruning Guyot method, and thew vines planted to extremely high density of 10,000 plants / hectare- similar to the best producers in Burgundy and Bordeaux.

An ultra-modern gravity fed winery on 4 levels was constructed in 2006.  State of the art destemmers and sorters prevent injury to the stems, while keeping the berries intact, allowing for an extended, three to four week-long maceration. Since 2012 La Tour Melas has been using open top 225 Litre barrels to ferment the wine; hugely labour intensive! . Oak barrels for aging are supplied by Seguin Moreau, Saury, Darnajou, and Taransaud. La Tour Melas has 90% new barrels every year. 

A more recent project has highlighted old indigenous Greek varieties, including an extraordinary  wine from 100 year old ungrafted, "franc de pied" Agiorgitiko (pre Phylloxera) grapes from Nemea.

The estate’s signature wine “La Tour Melas” itself is grown on clay and limestone soils, with organic and biodynamic farming. 60% Cabernet Franc / 40% Merlot cropped at just 30 hl / ha. Micro vinification of small parcels in open top barrels with wild yeasts. No fining, no filtration. Ageing 70% new French oak 225 ltr barriques for 22 months

Intense aromas of cassis and licorice with savoury notes of sage and thyme; notes of dark chocolate, graphite and fresh tobacco mingle with the fresh fruit. Precise and dense, the wine shows supple tannins that play with flavours of black berry, dark chocolate and eucalyptus. Perfect balance of fresh acidity followed by deep rich fruit, yet not overblown. An extremely high quality, sophisticated red which should age for decades. A benchmark for what can be achieved with Bordeaux varieties in Greece