Q&A with Vasilis Papanikolopoulos

Why do you focus on these rare grape varieties?

It was always our family’s philosophy to cultivate these rare grapes. My dad loved them. I grew up hearing my dad speaking about them. He passed all these things to me. I decided to study something more related to engineering. But then I came back and decided to take over the winery and fulfil all these dreams. It makes me happy that I can see rare varieties from the island travelling around the world, that a lot of people can taste them and tell me their opinion.

What’s the landscape like on your island of Lefkada?

It is not a very winemaking region. It is very mountainous. We have some up to 1000 metres high. We have very nice soil and picturesque small villages and forests. It is a very nice island of the Ionian sea with a lot of green waters.

Tell me about the Mavropatrino grape?

Mavropatrino is a grape variety which isn’t used for vinification anymore. It was almost forgotten. The vine is very sensitive and this is why a lot of people stopped cultivating it. You have to be very careful with pruning. The colour of the skin is unusual – some are pink and light purple and some remain green, even when matured. You can also enjoy it as a table grape.

We call it Mavropatrino (or Patrino, people add the word Mavro~ which means black in greek in order to distinct it from a similar, white grape). Its light purple skin is ideal for rosé wines because even after long macerations, the wine remains light in color.

Mavropatrino 2020 is a dark rosé with an intense floral nose of floral and fruity citrus aromas while the red fruits enrich its dry palate. The refreshing acidity and the high alcohol reflect the island’s climate. Its evolution in the glass is impressive, just give it some time and you will find it out!

Can you describe the terroir?

The soil is rocky limestone and clay. The vineyard faces northeast. A cool and dry northern wind minimizes fungal diseases so spraying is almost unnecessary. The altitude of the vineyard is 500 metres high on the mountainous area of Lefkada island. Our style of farming is organic. We keep planting, pruning and cultivating the vineyards as our ancestors did, using occasionally Bordeaux Mixture or sulfur.

What was the vintage like?

There is a difficulty in finding out the best harvesting window for Mavropatrino. The maturation rate of the grape changes every year due to the climate change which makes picking the grapes at the best moment very difficult. This affects the fermentation and the yeast growth and, as a result, there are incomplete fermentations and residual sugars (Mavropatrino 2020 is a good example).

How did you make the wine?

We destem and crush the grapes for the maceration. The wine stayed four days with the skins at 6-8ºC. Then we remove the must and the fermentation starts spontaneously after 1 day. We use stainless steel tanks for maceration, fermentation and maturing of Mavropatrino. It is important to change tank for each procedure and every vessel is sterilized with pure steam. Gravity helps us to move the wine from one vessel to the other until the end of its maturation and then we use a pump only once in order to bottle it. We don’t use sulfites at all.

Any recommended food pairings?

As a family we keep it simple: we usually enjoy a chilled glass of Mavropatrino without food. However, it is a very gastronomic wine. It can be paired with a great variety of oyster dishes, mushroom risotto and many traditional greek recipes. I think the ideal drinking window is late 2021 – 2023. The evolution of this wine is very interesting. In the first five years you could enjoy and fully experience the grape’s characteristics.

The rare Mavropatino is an unusual grape variety. The skin can range from pink to light purple to green! So the wine is always lightly coloured, no matter how long the skin contact. This is a thrilling, surprising wine. When I tasted it, I was amazed at how it tasted almost more like a cocktail than a wine.

The acidity is very bright and very intense. On the aroma front, you get an explosion of citrus, especially pink grapefruit and lime rind, but there is also an incredible floral lift, a mix of mimosa and honeysuckle. It is fun and serious all at once but above all it is a memorable, delicious drink. Will be great with simple nibbles like salted almonds and kalamata olives.

Source: Isabelle Legeron MW, founder of rawwine.com