Ask most Dutch holidaymakers about Crete and they will describe a beach, some sun and a carafe of house wine. Lodewijk and his business partner Boas found something else there. The island has eleven indigenous grape varieties and a new generation of winemakers in their thirties and forties, many of whom studied and worked abroad, in Italy for instance. Much of what they make barely leaves the island. In 2020 the two friends set up DeliKreta to bring it to the Netherlands.
For Sparks episode 22, Lodewijk and I tasted three bottles from Garakis: a Muscat of Spinas, a Vidiano with a small share of oak, and a Syrah at 12.5 percent.
DeliKreta sent me the bottles; I was not paid and the opinions are my own.
This episode was recorded in Dutch. Watch on YouTube with auto-translated subtitles via the link above.
Who is Lodewijk
DeliKreta grew out of a friendship. Boas has been going to Crete for more than thirty years; his parents have a house near Rethymno, and Lodewijk describes him as something of a local there. In 2019 Lodewijk went along for a few days. On New Year’s Eve the two neighbours ran into each other outside and, in a giddy mood, decided to start something around Crete. Having to fly out once or twice a year to see suppliers did not sound like much of a punishment.
Olive oil came first. Within a fortnight Boas spotted a Cretan olive oil brand in eye-catching tins on Instagram, and it had no Dutch distributor. By mid-March 2020 they were on Crete with the producer. They flew out on a Wednesday, the Netherlands went into lockdown, and when they landed on the Sunday Schiphol was, in Lodewijk’s words, a ghost town. They were among the last to get home. Honey followed, and in 2022 wine, after Boas kept recognising labels he had been drinking on the island.
A part-time business
Lodewijk and Boas run DeliKreta part-time, so they have to be careful about what they take on. A new winery usually sends a few bottles to the Netherlands first so they can taste them at home. Plenty of things that taste wonderful on holiday fall flat back home, and they always want to run that check.
They found Garakis through the grapevine. Boas was at a dinner on Crete hosted by one of their winemakers, and Garakis was at the table. In winemaking circles on the island everyone knows everyone, Lodewijk says. Durakis they found by chance: two years ago, driving back from a trip into the mountains, they passed the winery, which according to Lodewijk has been making serious wine for around thirty years. They now import its first wines.
They were heading back the week after the recording. Lodewijk and Boas would spend the first two days visiting Garakis, whom Lodewijk had not yet met in person, followed by five days touring wineries they already work with, together with customers of DeliKreta and of one of their retail partners.
A short history of Greek wine
Lodewijk gives a quick history lesson. Viticulture began in the Caucasus, somewhere between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It reached Greece through Turkey thousands of years before Christ, as excavated pottery shows. The Greeks took the vine to Italy and the Romans spread it across the rest of Europe.
Then Greece stalled. During the long Ottoman occupation, somewhere between 1500 and 1700 by Lodewijk’s reckoning (he is not sure of the dates), winemaking ground to a halt and later had to start again almost from scratch. For a long time the focus was bulk: press everything together and sell it as house wine. That, he says, explains why Greek wine still has a modest reputation in the Netherlands, where most people know it from the taverna carafe. The younger winemakers, now in their thirties and forties, often studied and worked abroad and are bottling far more refined wines.
The vineyards vary a lot. Many vines are still fairly young, but a few very small estates have vines Lodewijk puts at around 100 to 150 years old. Garakis has been running a distillery for 25 years, built its own winery in 2021 and bottled its first wine in 2022.
Eleven indigenous grapes
Crete has eleven indigenous grape varieties, and DeliKreta wants to bring at least one good wine from each to the Netherlands. They are nearly there. These came up in our conversation:
- Vidiano: one of the island’s most important white grapes, sometimes called the “white diva”. Fifteen to twenty years ago it was close to extinction until winemakers saw its potential and replanted it. DeliKreta stocks it in many styles, from stainless steel only to four months in French and American oak
- Muscat of Spinas: a local Muscat from around the village of Spinas
- Mandilari: an indigenous red grape that Garakis grows. Its wine was not ready yet, which is why we tasted the Syrah instead
- Assyrtico: originally from Santorini and so not native to Crete, though now widely planted there. If someone knows one Greek grape, it is usually this one
Alongside the native varieties the winemakers also grow international ones such as Syrah. DeliKreta mainly looks for what makes the island distinctive. Taking on France with a Sauvignon Blanc, Lodewijk reckons, is a very hard fight to win.
Climate and geography
Crete’s mountains rise to almost 2,500 metres. Most vineyards sit between 300 and 600 metres, where winters are cold and a sea breeze often blows. Drought is a growing challenge, and last year was extremely dry. As temperatures rise, growers are harvesting earlier and planting higher. The native grapes are used to this climate, which, according to Lodewijk, keeps production stable.
Tasting three Garakis wines
Garakis gives all three wines a few months of bâtonnage, stirring the wine every week. Two of them carry the name Lagada, after their favourite vineyard.
Lagada Muscat of Spinas, 13.9 percent
A lightweight bottle with a modern label: part of the map of Crete, Greek lettering and Latin script you can actually read. The label carries PGI Crete, the protected geographical indication.
On the nose there is lots of lemon, deep and full; Lodewijk adds the floral side of Muscat and a touch of acacia and vanilla. This one has seen no oak. Bâtonnage usually brings a creamy note of crème fraîche and butter, but there is barely any here; Lodewijk does pick up a slight creaminess. It stays fresh. On the palate there is salty, sharp acidity and lovely fruit.
I would pour it with a fish starter. Lodewijk suggests sushi, a good piece of fish or a creamy pasta along the lines of carbonara. Only 2,000 bottles of this Muscat were made. DeliKreta sells it for €15.95.
Garakis Vidiano, 13.8 percent
A different style of label, and no Lagada name. Lodewijk did not know why; he suspects the grapes come from another vineyard and put it on his list of questions for the visit. The colour is slightly warmer than the Muscat’s. Thirty percent of this cuvée spent three months in French oak, so the wood stays in the background.
The nose is creamier and rounder, with some oak and plenty of tropical fruit. Less pineapple and banana, more passion fruit and peach, with a hint of red fruit and cherry behind it. On the palate the fresh, salty note comes first, then a rush of fruit and sharp acidity. A cleanly made wine. Lodewijk places Vidiano between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, with the creaminess of one and the tart, appley side of the other. For people who only drink those two, he thinks it is a good discovery. €15.95.
Neither of us knew for certain during the recording whether Garakis farms organically, and the bottle says nothing about it.
Lagada Syrah, 12.5 percent
A single-varietal 2023, also from the Lagada vineyard. It is recognisably Syrah from the first sniff: raspberry, blackberry, a little warm cherry and spice. We both found Mediterranean herbs, including that Greek thyme which is always a touch sharper.
The palate is fresh, with tannins that are present but calm, high acidity and that salty note again. Clean and unforced. According to Lodewijk the fruit comes from one of the oldest Syrah vineyards in the area, on chalky soil that makes it hard to farm. He did not know the details of how the plots lie. €16.50.
A fourth wine for the curious
Not tasted, but shown on camera: a Lagada blend of 70 percent Vidiano and 30 percent Muscat of Spinas at €14.95. Two local grapes together, a popular way of blending.
What remains open
This was a single tasting, with bottles sent by the importer, and much of the background comes from Lodewijk himself. He had not yet met the people at Garakis, and a few questions went unanswered: why the Vidiano has a different label, how the Syrah plots lie, and whether the estate farms organically.
Price is a hurdle, and Lodewijk says so himself. One retail partner who stocks nearly their whole range still has to convince customers that 16 euros for a Greek wine is worth it, when plenty of people are happy with a €7.95 bottle. Lodewijk does the sums differently: a glass on a terrace costs 6 to 8 euros, and a bottle at home gives you six glasses.
Frequently asked questions
What are Crete’s best-known wines? Vidiano, the “white diva”, Muscat of Spinas, the red Mandilari, and Assyrtico, which comes from Santorini but is now widely grown on Crete too. Garakis, Klados, Charalambakis and Durakis are some of the wineries DeliKreta imports.
Why does Greek wine have a modest reputation in the Netherlands? According to Lodewijk, the Ottoman occupation brought winemaking to a standstill. Afterwards the focus stayed on bulk wine for a long time, much of it ending up as carafe wine in tavernas. Only with the current generation of winemakers, often trained abroad, is more bottled, refined wine appearing.
How many indigenous grape varieties does Crete have? Eleven. DeliKreta aims to offer at least one representative wine from each in the Netherlands and is nearly there.
Where can I buy DeliKreta wines? Through delikreta.nl and via retail partners and restaurants. In Utrecht you will find them at Olimazie, which has an all-Greek wine list, and at Roy Nel, a restaurant with no Greek connection that pours five to seven DeliKreta labels.
The bottles in this episode
Garakis Lagada Muscat of Spinas. No oak, a few months of bâtonnage. Lemon, salty, fresh. 2,000 bottles. €15.95. 13.9 percent.
Garakis Vidiano. 30 percent aged three months in French oak. Sits between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. €15.95. 13.8 percent.
Garakis Lagada Syrah (2023). Single-varietal, chalky soil. Red fruit, Mediterranean herbs, calm tannins. €16.50. 12.5 percent.
More about DeliKreta
The webshop at delikreta.nl also sells Cretan olive oil and honey. The site lists the restaurants that pour their wines, though Lodewijk admits the list is not complete. Questions can go through Instagram or the website chat. Travelling to Crete yourself? At Durakis you can simply walk in; at smaller estates such as Garakis, Klados and Charalambakis you book a visit online.
The conversation with winemaker Drakos Garakis himself is in Sparks episode 23.
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