2024 MUSCAT OF SPINA

TRY ME IF YOU LOVE: Dry Riesling / Gewuztraminer

ABV: 14.0%

GRAPES: 100% Muscat of Spina

TASTING NOTES: Bone dry, complex, slightly herbal, with lemon, orange blossom and bergamot, very fresh and persistent, with a notably salty flavour – and just a whiff of Muscat’s more typical grapey floral notes.

PAIRS WITH: Pairs well with seafood both cooked and raw.

SERVE ME: Chilled, pop in the fridge for a couple of hours

Aôri, which means 'mountain' in Cretan dialect, was set up by ex-sommelier Aimilios Andrei and Dimitris Skouras, oenologist and viticulturalist. The project is based around some impressive high-elevation vineyards which Aimilios discovered near Spina, on the mountainous coast southwest of Chania. The altitude – the vineyards they work with are between 750- 850m above sea level - gives a much cooler climate than you might expect in the Mediterranean. Grapes have been grown on Crete since the third millennium BC and it's home to a number of local varieties.