A bottle in a run of 800. One label, one year, and then it never returns. The Plein Soleil Day 22 from 2023 is already poured before the microphone goes on, and Yiannis Mylothridis brought it from his own stock. The grape is Debina, a variety from Zitsa that until three years ago he didn’t find particularly interesting himself.
For the new Sparks episode I sat down with the founder of Oenopolis, the Dutch importer that built the country’s largest range of Greek and Cypriot wine in a decade. We talked about 300 native grapes, why retsina has held the entire reputation of Greek wine hostage, and what a €27 bottle does in a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Who is Yiannis Mylothridis
Yiannis came to the Netherlands with his parents in 2001. He grew up in the family restaurant and worked his way up to sommelier. The family’s wholesale business had also existed since 2001, but Yiannis didn’t get involved. Until 2012. That’s when his childhood friends, the Garypadis brothers of Kir-Yianni, brought their first Malagousia. The wine was so good that Yiannis started his WSET training and overhauled the wholesale catalogue end to end.
Today Oenopolis carries close to 300 wines from Greece in its import range and is also the largest importer of Cypriot wine in the Netherlands. No more bulk wine in two-litre packs. Small houses, rare grapes, and Michelin-starred restaurants as a primary channel.
Why retsina isn’t all of Greek wine
“I don’t like Greek white wine because I don’t like retsina.” For years Yiannis heard that line from guests in the family restaurant. He pulls apart two causes. The first is biological: Greece dealt with phylloxera much longer than other European wine regions. The second is reputational: hospitality on the islands ran for years on cheap two-litre containers, and if your first Greek wine experience is bad, you stop trying.
The repositioning is now well underway. Greece has more than 300 indigenous grape varieties, not all in production but many on the rise. A long coastline, lots of islands, and mountains give the white wines bright acidity and pronounced minerality. These flavours don’t read like France or Italy to a Dutch drinker, and that’s exactly the point.
Small producers over cooperatives
Yiannis’ filter is consistent. Most of his producers sit below 100,000 bottles per year. Jima — the producer of the bottle on the table — is below 20,000. The Plein Soleil itself is a run of exactly 800 bottles.
“I only focus on wine I would buy myself. If I don’t want to buy it, it’s out. Simple.” That filter cleared most of the original wholesale range. Quality houses, rare grapes, and small volumes are the three criteria. Of course Assyrtiko and Xinomavro are on the list — you can’t go around them — but the magic, in Yiannis’ view, sits with the small grower.
The native grapes we tasted
The bottle on the table is a Debina from Zitsa, in Epirus on the Greek mainland. Before 2022, Yiannis didn’t find Debina interesting. A salty-sweet grape without much body, low alcohol, nothing to come back for. Then he tasted Jima’s Misty Debina — intensely mineral, an entirely different profile.
Within a single year he tasted three different Debinas from the same producer, all remarkable and completely different from each other. The producer makes successful experiments that show what the grape can do. The kind of discovery only possible when you live in the regions between trips to ProWein.
Tasting Jima Plein Soleil Day 22 (2023)
Colour and nose. Deep amber, nearly mahogany. That suggests long skin contact, but the nose is anything but heavy — dried orange peel, lemon, lime, with a floral, grassy underlayer. Not a recognisable Debina-style aroma. That’s the point.
Vinification. Partly on the skins, partly in amphora, partly in oak. Eight months on the lees. The combination delivers body without sacrificing freshness.
Palate. Beautiful body, complex flavours, gorgeous acidity. Yiannis points out the finish — typical of the house — that runs on for minutes. Botanical notes, ginger, fruit that holds, coconut and vanilla from the oak. A serious wine that pairs with vegetables; not an aperitif.
A wine a Michelin restaurant found too cheap
The Plein Soleil Day 22 is €27 in the Oenopolis web shop. From the profile alone — 800 bottles, long finish, complex vinification — a blind guess would land north of €100.
Yiannis tells the story of a Michelin venue in the Netherlands that found the wine too cheap to put on the list. A €27 bottle can’t carry the standard restaurant markup, and the guests come in expecting to spend more than €100 per bottle. The price-quality of Greek wine at this level differs from what most are used to.
In the same conversation he mentions that his entry-level Supergirl sold out almost immediately, and that for the successor Supergirl Late Harvest the producer holds the same price — even though it’s a premium wine. “He wants to support me, and his other peers. It’s about a long-term relationship.”
FAQ
How many wines does Oenopolis import? Close to 300 wines from Greece, plus a separate range of more than 40 Cypriot wines via the new site cypriotischewijn.nl.
What counts as a small producer for Oenopolis? Below 100,000 bottles per year, with a strong preference for houses well below that. Jima is under 20,000; some wines like the Plein Soleil Day 22 appear in runs of 800.
Which Greek grapes should you learn? Beyond Assyrtiko and Xinomavro, Yiannis recommends Malagousia, Debina, and the Cypriot Xynisteri. The other 300-odd indigenous varieties you discover region by region.
How much is the Jima Plein Soleil Day 22? €27 per bottle at Oenopolis, a one-off cuvée of 800 bottles from 2023. The label will not return.
The bottle itself
Jima Plein Soleil Day 22 (2023). 100% Debina from Zitsa, partial skin contact, partial amphora, partial oak, eight months on lees. Deep amber with a nose of dried orange peel and citrus over a floral layer; palate with sharp acidity, body, and a finish that runs for minutes. 800 bottles, single-label release. €27 at Oenopolis.
More about Oenopolis
Visit oenopolis.vin for the full Greek range, and the sister site cypriotischewijn.nl for 40+ top Cypriot wines.
Full transcript
This episode was recorded in Dutch. The full Dutch transcript is available on the Dutch version of this article for accessibility and search indexing.
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