Catching sunshine
Muscat of Alexandria is a variety that seems to contain an endless stream of generosity. I spent many days and nights in its company on the island of Pantelleria where it goes under the name of Zibibbo.
On a Greek island (similarly vulcanic, roughly six times the size and 1200 km east of Pantelleria) Muscat of Alexandria is also the main ingredient in their wines.
The island of Lemnos.
A native to Lemnos, Manolis Garalis has made wine from Muscat of Alexandria since 2006. Or put in a another way, Manolis has helped his Muscat grapes do what they do best…
Catching sunshine!
Because that’s the feeling you get from the very first interaction with this wine. How on earth can a grape absorb those amounts of sweet summer scents? It is packed… with a colorful range of tropic fruits like tangerine, mango, pineapple, lemon and orange peel.
Its flowery aromas and stony backdrop heightens the experience to a level far above the islands hotel cocktails that may contain the same fruity ingredients but lack the genius of the interpreter (Muscat) and her assistant (Manolis).
In the mouth it crackles and dances and releases the aromas to put the whole olfactory system at work!
What could be better on a grey winter afternoon…
