Greek wines continue to gain international recognition with Julia Harding's recent article on Jancis Robinson waxing lyrically (wait for it) about the 2022 Lyrarakis Liatiko from Crete.  "A seductively fragrant, fine red with tons of personality, at a great price." she notes, and we would tend to agree.

Visiting the winery on late 2023, Julia writes that:

It’s hard to believe how much time and effort goes into the making of this delicious and great-value wine, made from Crete’s very own red-wine variety Liatiko. The colour of the wine is typical for the variety, bricky red even in youth. It has the seductively sweet aroma of Liatiko, with notes of fresh red fruits as well as dried cranberry and red cherry. The chalky/dusty tannins, sweet-sour red fruits and deep-seated freshness set this up as benchmark unoaked Liatiko: the complete opposite of an anodyne red that could come from anywhere. The alcohol is unobtrusive at 13.5%.

This could come from nowhere but Crete, where Lyrarakis have proved their mastery of Liatiko even if the easy drinkability of the wine belies the complex organisation involved in making it on an island with so many small-scale farmers, many of whom are in their 80s.

Read the full article here: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/lyrarakis-liatiko-2022-crete