# Lefkos Vidiano & Thrapsathiri (2025)

- **Producer:** Iliana Malihin
- **Colour:** white
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Vidiano, Thrapsathiri
- **Region:** Crete, Greece
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 12.5%
- **Average price:** €20
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** peach, apricot, lemon, pear, herbaceous, fennel, smoke, cream

## About this wine

Iliana Malíhin founded her estate in 2019 at age 26 in Rethymno, Crete, collaborating with local farming families to protect the island's ancient viticultural roots. Lefkos was originally created in response to severe 2022 wildfires in Melambes. To preserve her production after losing old vines, Iliana blended Vidiano and Thrapsathiri from surviving high-altitude organic plots across Rethymno. The resulting cuvée was so acclaimed that it became a permanent estate signature.

## Interesting facts

- Created after devastating 2022 wildfires, this wine became a signature cuvée due to widespread acclaim.
- Grapes are grown at altitudes up to 900 meters on un-grafted vines up to 100 years old.
- Winemaker Iliana Malíhin established her winery at just 26 years old to rescue Crete's old-vine heritage.

## Food pairing

The vibrant acidity, citrus freshness, and distinct saline minerality of this high-altitude Cretan white cut through rich seafood oils and complement Mediterranean herbs. Its lees-matured texture allows it to hold up well alongside roasted poultry and aged mountain cheeses without being overwhelmed.

## Wine making process

Hand-harvested from high-altitude terraces ranging between 560 and 900 meters above sea level. The grapes undergo gentle destemming, brief skin contact, and spontaneous fermentation using indigenous wild yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at 20°C. The wine ages for 8 months on fine lees sur lie with periodic stirring to develop texture, bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with minimal sulfites.