Romeiko

Archaeological findings in Crete prove the existence of wine culture back in the Minoan period (3000-1500 BC). In fact, the world’s oldest wine press, dated in 2500 BC, was discovered in Archanes, central Crete.

Nowadays, apart from classic red grape variaties (e.g. international Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Sangiovese), there are only few domestic varieties used for commercial winemaking in Crete. The dark colored Mandilari and the more sensitive Kotsifali are often met in blends, complementing each other, Liatiko is usually found in sweet wines, and Romeiko, for years dismissed and mistaken as a village wine, has recently demonstrated an interesting comeback.

For years Romeiko was the main growing variety in the area of western Crete,​​ Chania. Its name is dated from the Ottoman occupation, implying its Greek identity (in the Greek language, “Romaic” is a adjective or noun related to modern Greece). Due to the absence of a clonal selection process, various clones are met, with several differences between them.
Romeiko is a vine variety with high resistant to diseases and rot because of its loose berries that allow the wind to pass through each bunch. It is also able to withstand drought. It is very high yielding, as it produces a lot of fruit in a small amount of land. For these reasons, it is so popular and has survived for centuries in the warm and humid climate of Crete. Romeiko is also the last grape to ripen. It ripens after the scorching heat of the summer; the cool night breezes of September lock in the aromas but also push the alcoholic limits of the wine, as it produces grapes with very high sugar content.
However, it is very easily oxidized and, even fully ripe, Romeiko will have green, black, and pink berries on the same bunch. This leads to high acid, light color, and low tannins, generally an undesirable combination for the production of classic red wines.

For years, as a best-case scenario, homemade winemaking took place to produce the traditional wine Marouvas, a rustic sherry-like wine of high alcohol and low acidity, resembling to Sherry Oloroso. Romeiko is either the predominant or the only vine variety used for the production of Marouvas, mainly in Kissamos region of Chania.
At worst and more commonly, Romeiko became oxidized and resembled vinegar more than wine, so when visitors to Chania tasted Romeiko, it literally left a bad taste in their mouth. This contributed to the bad reputation of Cretan wine even until the end of the 20th century.
However, some say that it is a success to transform a disadvantage to an advantage. Thus, unexpectedly, young and talented winemakers challenged the public with their decision to regenerate Romeiko, bring it back on stage and use it for making modern versions of wine, beyond old and traditional techniques, mainly based on aging.

Marouvas for locals means “aged”, indicating that the namesake wine is intended for long aging. Until recently, it was common practice to bury a barrel with Marouvas into the soil when a child was born and open it a long time ago, for examble, on the occasion of a big celebration (let’s say when the child grew up and got married).
There is a particular method of making Natural Sweet wine (vin Naturellement Doux) from Romeiko grapes by sun-drying the grapes (usually 9-10 days) and thus pressing the raisins. The wine produced by this method is called sun-dried or “liasto”. Afterwards, the must enters old oak barrels for the fermentation. The barrels are not usually washed, so that they hold yeasts and dregs of wine from previous years. In fact, many producers are proud of using wine barrels up to 100 years old. This method resembles the traditional Solera method, used to produce sherry in Spain. The wine remains in the barrel until it gets the proper taste.
In the case of “Euforia” made by Dourakis Winery, the aging lasts eight years!

Its name “Euforia” in Greek means “Joy” and it was exactly what I felt when I first tasted it at Oinotika 2019. It intensely brought back memories of tasting my mother’s homemade spoon sweet quince and strawberry marmalade!