Aôri, Muscat of Spina, Crete, Greece

Who - Aimilios Andrei and Dmitri Scours, Aôri
Where - Crete, Greece
What - White Wine - Muscat of Spina
When - 2023
How  - Organic practices, short skins maceration before spontaneous fermentation in steel, matured in steel for five months on lees with small portion matured in a clayver ceramin vessel, lightly fined, unfiltered, Vegan

High altitude wines from the beautiful mountainous coasts of Crete where grapes have been grown since the third millennium BC. Aôri is the project of ex-sommelier, Aimilios Andrei and Dmitri Scours, oenologist and viticulturist. The term simply means 'mountain' in Cretan dialect and this is very much reflected in their wines with refreshing acidity and minerality running through their core.  

Muscat of Spina is a clone of Muscat à Petit Grains which was named after the nearby community of Spina in Chania. The grapes come from two plots of ungrafted bush vines planted between 750-850 metres above sea level. They're handpicked and are given a few hours of maceration on the skins before spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel tanks. Most of the wine is then transferred to stainless steel tanks where it stays on fine lees for five months but a small proportion is transferred to a Clayver ceramic vessel, which Amilios feels brings salinity to the wine.

This wine is intense and salty with plenty of minerality and refreshing acidity. Not your typical aromatic muscat...