Karavitakis The Little Prince White 2013
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With time vineyards were getting bigger and enriched with many more varietals. The business was expanding till today’s owner Manolis Karavitakis reorganized everything, built the new winery in 1996 just a few hundred meters from the old one and tried to focus both in local and international grape varieties. The result was a very rich portfolio of wines, together with limited production experimental ones. Today his son Nikos Karavitakis is running sales, exports and the winery tastings program and together they cooperate for producing and releasing wines which will offer a taste of the Cretan terroir.
The winery’s philosophy is simple. Grow local and international grape varietals, but offer a cretan terroir background to them so that somebody can understand the essence of producing wines on the island of Crete. Modern viticultural methods are used and effort is given to apply minimum forces during winemaking. The result is wines without edges but yet very interesting for a tasting palate.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
As one of Greece’s largest island’s, its wines enjoyed high glory during the Middle Ages. Today Crete is full of ambitious winemakers with the city of Heraklion as its viticultural hub.