Liatiko
The Liatiko variety is woven into the living fabric of eastern Crete. Its wine has been a friend to, provided rest, comforted, heard the confessions of and feasted with countless generations of its local reveling lovers.
Gentleness, mildness and sweetness are traits they both share, making them inseparable.
It is a dynamic red variety which gives excellent wines, both dry and sweet. Its color intensity is low but has a rich and full aromatic profile with red fruits, flowers and spices prevailing. It gives fresh, balanced and fruity rosé wines, red wines with rounded and soft tannins, mildly acidic but also wines with excellent potential for aging.
Ideal conditions strictly dictate a hot and dry climate. The variety is quite perky and productive but also rather sensitive to fungal infections. The old vineyards that survive are densely planted and somewhat cup-like in their bush vine (goblet pruning) formations. The grapes are thin-skinned and usually of medium size. Winemaking has been traditionally based on limited extraction and it gives rosé wines with a characteristically fruity taste profile, meant to be consumed fresh. There are, however, excellent examples of wines which, following appropriate winemaking and aging processes, bring out the unique characteristics of this wonderful variety perfectly.
