Roditis Barrique IGP Macedoine Jason Ligas 2017

Roditis Barrique Ktima Ligas 2017, superb natural wine from Greece, Roditis grape, unique flavours, rich, complex, full, lovely. The estate's new special Cru Roditis was born out of the natural evolution of a wine reborn in an oak barrel. The 2013 Roditis went to sleep a little, becoming unusual in flavour and aroma, complex but lacking freshness. Ligas understanding of the wine led to put the remaining 300 litres into an oak barrel for about a year with the lees of the 2014 vintage and the result is a stunning wine of immense complexity and also freshness rediscovered. That wine showed perhaps more than any we have tried how a natural wine evolves and changes hugely in its lifespan. It also shows how a little oxygen can actually bring a wine back to life rather than send it to its death. It takes a great wine maker to achieve these feats. The 2017 continues the quality although this is not experimenting, he intends to carry on with the wine albeit in similarly tiny quantity. The 17 is also very tasty!! The extremely cool label is a picture of Melina Mercurie, former Greek actress and minister of culture.

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!'