La Tour Melas, Achinos, Central Greece

La Tour Melas was founded in 2000 with the ambitious aim of producing a Greek first-growth. Merlot and Cabernet Franc were planted on a coastal site in mainland Greece, near the village of Achinos, and a state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery was built into the hillside.

The production is organic and biodynamic and the location, surrounded by a pristine oak forest, has a typically Mediterranean climate—mild, wet winters followed by hot, dry summers. The gently sloping, gravel-rich soils are reminiscent of Bordeaux's Right Bank, and the proximity of the sea provides a crucial breeze bringing humidity and coolness to the vines during the day, whereas the rocky soil keeps the vines warm at night.

The eponymous Merlot-Cabernet Franc blend as well as Palies Rizes, sourced from ungrafted centenarian Agiorgitiko vines in Nemea, are legendary wines within Greece, representing some of the finest red wines made there. La Tour Melas have complemented these with two modern classics suited

to everyday drinking – the Provençal-style rosé Idylle D'Achinos and the smooth red blend of Agiorgitiko, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc in the Cyrus One.