Vin de Grece Pata Trava Ktima Ligas 2019

Vin de Grece Pata Trava Ktima Ligas, natural wine, organic wine, 100% Xinomavro, no added sulphites, direct press of the red grape Xinomavro, stunning textural wine. The wine is pressed directly meaning just a slight skin contact with the red grape, somewhere between a Rose and an Orange wine, the contact with the skin gives a ‘pinkish’ colour to the wine but also imparts a superb texture. Natural fermentation in stainless steel tank is followed by ageing in barrel for 6 months. It’s not fined or filtered and no sulphites are added. The result, an intriguing, complex yet easy wine of real style and depth of flavour.

Since ancient times, the region of Pella in the Peloponnese, situated in northern Greece, was associated with wine making and described as the mother of wine, where vines abound.

Jason Ligas and his Sister Meli continued the work of their Father Thomas and set about turning the normally dull Roditis grape into something very special. By converting to natural farming in the 80s after following the ideas set out by a renowned Japanese Masanobu Fukuoka (1913-2008) whose approach to agriculture was called, ‘do nothing'. Fukuoka – whose philosophy has been described as ‘Steiner without cow horns’ – was a Japanese researcher in plant pathology who subsequently became an experimental farmer and promoter of natural farming. At Ligas by reducing the yield he was able to express the terroir and show the potential of their indigenous grapes that are normally over cropped and used for cheap jug wine. The soils are loamy, sand with very good drainage and the natural environment is expressed in his stunningly fresh and complex white wines. The reds are pretty rare and only made in good years but are also wines to be savoured. The wines all carry a unique personality and expressive aroma which we have come to call 'The Ligas Nose!'