Cretan Wine ~ Kρασί

Cretan wines make up 20% of Greek wine production. Wine making is a 2000 year old practice on the island of Crete. Dionysos, the God of wine-making, fun and friendship, celebrated with Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos.

In the healthy tradition of living life to the full, in Crete good wine krasí is an accompaniment to good food and good company.

Wine producing regions include Chania, Peza, Archanes, Dafnés and Sitía, although you will find dópio krasí on every table in every village in Kríti.

Chania

Douraki Winery, which produces red and organic wines by Andreas Dourakis is 40 km east of Chania in Alikambos inland from Vryses and Giorgiopoulos. It opens for visitors with tours, training courses and tasting.

Peza

In the 19th Century, the walls of Iraklion would be locked overnight, so travellers would find rest at Peza. An innkeeper, Antonis Miliarakis provided home made food and wine. The natural evolution of the family tradition continues, now with a modern winery and proud wine label.

The Miliarakis brothers have been officially making wine since 1932. There is a lovely showroom and tasting rooms on the property. Their wines grown with kotsifali, mandilari and vilana varieties are red white and rose. They recently offered Miliarakis Organic Vineyard, a strong red, to an enthusiastic market.

18 villages make up the Peza area, most of the winemakers are members of the union, Union of Agricultural Cooperatives Peza, which bottles and markets its own wines, including retsina and organic wines, and olive products.

Archanes

Also close by is Lidakis winery by winemaker Vangelis Lidakis.

Dafnés

20 kms south of Iraklion, on top of a ridgeline, lies Dafnés. A thriving agricultural town, Dafnés is surrounded by vineyards. Here is where Douloufakis winery can be found, where three generations of Douloufakis family have been making wine.

Current winemaker Nikolas studied the art both here and in Italy and offers red, white including malvazia and enotria, organics and experimental wines from liatiko, kotsifali, vilana, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, malvasia aromatica, sangiovese, barbera, pinot noir, syrah and moscato bianco varieties. They are open for wine tasting, have an exhibition and are said to be some of the best Cretan wines.

Also at Dafnés is the Vergitsis winery which produces Cretan wines; a red and white from liatiko, kotsifali and mantilari varieties.

Sitía

Their tsikoudia, the white spirit made from wine grapes, also known as raki, is named Varvarki. This is a dedication to the Eleonora’s Falcon, a proud and beautiful falcon, an endangered bird beloved by Cretans. See more about this falcon on our nature pages.

Here in Sitia is produced the Toplou Estate sweet red wine, made by the cooperative by the knowledge and hands of the monks from the well-respected Toplou Monastery of Sitia, who have been making Cretan wine for centuries.

This winery has been credited with producing daring and sophisticated wines.

Also in eastern Crete is the Economou Winery of Giannis Economou, one of Crete's promising new winemakers. This winery, located in the Ziros Plateau near Zakros, according to Greekwinemakers ‘produces a highly regarded appellation, a complex wine whose modern treatment discloses the true nature and potential of the variety of liatiko’.