DOMAINE MYRSINI
Paros
Cyclades Islands
Originally from Nantes, Marie-Astrid and Nicolas spent ten years pursuing their respective careers in teaching and hospitality. In 2019, just before the onset of Covid, they made the decision to leave their beloved region and relocate with their family to the island of Paros in Greece, nestled in the heart of the Cyclades.
In 2020, they planted their first vines covering 1.4 hectares, managed in accordance to organic farming principles. Since then, they have also been busy sourcing old-vine parcels to rent in the mountains as well as collaborating with small farmers practicing herbicide and pesticide-free cultivation.
With 2021 came the inaugural vintage of Domaine Mysrini, featuring three white wines and a red, all exclusively sourced from manually harvested grapes on the island of Paros.
Paros' diverse soil composition, including granite, gneiss, limestone and marble, plays a major role in the typicity of the wines. The influence of the Aegean Sea and Cycladic winds imparts freshness and iodised nuances to the whites, while mountainous terroirs at higher altitudes (500 meters) offer distinct Loire-like characteristics to their red cuvée, Nées Rizes.
Indigenous yeasts and lees ageing mark the vinification process. All wines are unfined, unfiltered, and generally bottled in the following spring. The estate's ethos prioritises expressing Paros' terroir with minimal intervention, avoiding any oenological inputs except for the homeopathic dose of sulphur at bottling.
Fotinos
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Paros, Cyclades
Varieties Monemvasia
ABV 12.5%
Soils Granite, gneiss, limestone
Farming Organic, biodynamic practices
Winemaking Hand-picked Monemvassia grapes are direct press into tank and fermented dry. After a first racking the wine then rests on its fine lees in a combination of stainless steel and one concrete egg until bottling in May 2023.
Tasting Note This is a fruty yet fresh wine, gently aromatic with attractive Mediterranean traits. Ends long and saline.
Amos
Vintage 2022
Style White
Region Paros, Cyclades
Varieties Assyrtiko
ABV 13%
Soils Sand, granite, limestone
Farming Organic, biodynamic practices
Winemaking Amos is made from one hunder percent Assyrtiko grapes grown on sand and granite, where the soils are particularly rich in iron. It is pressed and feeds straight into stainless steel where the wine ferments and it is aged on fine lees. Unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Note A rounder example of white wine from Paros. The Assyrtiko really comes through with its weightier fruit and rounder texture. Beautifully balanced by the minerality and purity the granite terroir imparts on the vines.
Néez Rizes
Vintage 2022
Style Red
Region Paros, Cyclades
Varieties Mandilaria, Vaftra
ABV 12.5%
Soils Granite, gneiss, limestone
Farming Organic, biodynamic practices
Winemaking An assemblage of two Cycladic indigenous grapes: Mandilaria (70%) and Vaftra (30%), both from old, own-rooted vinayards planted above 500mt elevation.The two varieties are processed separately, with Mandilaria undergoing a semi-carbonic maceration over 8 days while Vaftra is fully de-stemmed and left on skins for 10 days. Ageing is also carried out separately and the wines are blended only a couple of month prior bottling.
Tasting Note Peppery and spiced on the nose. The palate offers tangy red fruits and cruchy redcurrant notes. A real thirst-quenching freshness run through from start to finish, making this a dangerously glou-glou wine.