2021 Domaine Douloufakis “Dafnios” Vidiano, PGI Crete, Greece.
The light gold Domaine Douloufakis’ Dafnios 100% Vidiano white is dry and creamy with smooth acidity, with mineral and stone fruit leading the way on the medium bodied palate, making it an excellent alternative to the flood of generic Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Grigios out there. Vidiano is a unique almost forgotten native grape to the Greek island of Crete, and its limestone based soils, that is making a big comeback and producing very pleasing wines in this new era of Greek wines. The fresh apple, peach, melon and lemony citrus all fold together gracefully and touches of white flowers, Spring herbs, wet stone, saline and verbena adds complexity here and this Douloufakis Dafnios Vidiano, grown inland in a remote valley, goes beautifully with a variety of simple foods, though especially well with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes.
Vidiano, which I just discovered recently, is an ancient Cretan white grape, which was almost fading into extinction before being revived by a new generation of young winemakers and producers, including Nikolas “Nikos” Douloufakis, who brought back to Crete what he learned while working in the Alba region of Italy. Nikos’ winery is located in the town of Dafnes, where the vineyards are known to be one of Crete’s best-known appellations, but interesting it currently is only an official zone for the red wines that are made with the Liatiko grape, another native grape like Vidiano. For his Vidiano, Douloufakis goes for purity of form and is fermented and aged solely in stainless steel with a short lees contact and a quick bottling, which suits this ancient grape that is quite textural and graceful by nature, no wood is needed here. Greece’s new generation of winemakers and regions offer a huge range of quality efforts, in particular are the sublime wines made with indigenous varietals, which is very exciting to witness, and I suggest exploring them as soon as possible.
($17 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive