We set off that morning by car up the
famous gorge and went to a local winery, Tetramythos
Across the bay far in the blue
distance is Galaxidi and Delphi. This is a panoramic view of what we saw
A stone clad building, with slight Swiss
notes
It is located high up in the hills
behind Diakofto
We did a quick tour of the modern and
spotlessly clean cellar, filled with good equipment
They have their own bottling line
and are using some clay amphorae to make
wine, as in ancient times
Different styles of amphora
Their barrel cellar, where we saw
French, American and Hungarian barrels
In the vinoteque
Organic Cabernet Sauvignon
Some wine memorabilia and an Icon
Bottles locked away, but also
available for purchase and tasting
We went upstairs to the tasting area
and tasted some of the wines. The first was a Colombard Chenin Muscat blend,
Roditis from Patras, with crisp acidity and long flavours. Then a Retsina with, thankfully, not much resin showing, but not great. A dry Malagousia which tasted
like Muscat d'Alexandrie, perfumed & refreshing with nice acidity. Then on
to red wines with the Cabernet Sauvignon which was corked but, underneath the
TCA, there was incense and classic cassis notes. Our tasting guide did not understand
enough English to get 'corked'
Other tourists from Athens, Alexandre and Annita Karalis, joined the
tasting. Next came Black of Lalavryta, which is a local grape variety. The hit was harsh
and tannic, also had TCA and was dry with dusty chalk. Perhaps you have to be
born there to appreciate it. Then Agiorgitiko, another local grape. Lots of fruit
with chalk coating the mouth. A fruit bomb on the nose, but a short finish
The line up of what we tasted. Back to
a white wine; next, the Milia made from Sauvignon Blanc, but not at all
recognisable as one. Not good. Then the Milia red, a blend of Cabernet, Merlot
and Black of Kalavryta. Deep cassis and black fruit, currents. Elegant, with
soft tannins. 16/20. Interesting wines, which they do export to the United States
Onward up into the mountains, where
there are winter ski resorts
High on the top was this small
Taverna, also with an Alpine feel
Marvellous views down towards the sea, the winery and the vineyards
Our hostess, who is a friend of Terry's
Attracting local butterflies! Terry
could supply the name....
Looking across at the local village
Their sign and menu, all in Greek
Perched on the edge of the mountain,
we sat in the sun and ate 'Toasties' with beers. Toasted cheese and tomato
sandwiches, a Greek lunchtime tradition it seems. It was all they had that day
for lunch, as the season had not yet started
Lots of wild flowers including a
version of our scabious, but the flowers are unusually square
Back to Diakofto, we did a tour of the
beachfront. Tall gum trees on the shore
accompanied by cork oaks and Tamarind
trees
The beach is made up of lovely pebbles
that are hell to walk on and the clear water is warming up for summer
It’s a shallow beach that follows the
coast for miles
Back to meet, Zoe, another of Terry's
friends, and drink a bottle of wine bought that morning at Tetramythos. We
enjoyed her company a lot, as we had lots in common, especially a love of travel
Lovely evening light. This was about 9
o'clock
Off to another village restaurant to
have dinner under the mulberry trees with another friend, Dora
Dora lives in London but is originally
from Crete. She is building a house in Diakofto. She was great fun
Here comes more food. Toast with oil
and herbs, a Greek salad, some good fresh beetroot and some humus - with some
carafes of wine
Some chips arrived and Terry produced
a surprise bottle of Vondeling Petit Blanc which he had
bought when he was in Cape Town in January
We were next to the small harbour
Then the fish arrived. It was bream,
fresh from the sea and delicious
The restaurant filling up
We preferred to sit across the road
under the trees
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2015
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