Mavropatrino

Siflogo - Mavropatrino - Organic rosé wine - No added sulfites - Lefkada island, Ionian Sea, Greece - Eklektikon

Mavropatrino is as rare of a grape variety as it gets, and Siflogo is perhaps the only winery cultivating and vinifying it. Its poor pigmentation produces rosé wines of lively floral aromas and a juicy palate.

  • Grower: Siflogo
  • Vintage: 2021
  • Type: Dark Rosé Dry Wine
  • Grapes: Mavropatrino 100%
  • Appellation: PGI Lefkada
  • Alcohol: 13.70%
  • Bottle: 750ml
  • Viticulture: Certified organic
  • Vinification: 2 days of pre-fermentation maceration, wild fermentation in stainless steel tank with mild temperature control, lees removal and elevation for five months in stainless steel tank, and bottled unfiltered and unfined with no addition of sulfites or any additives.
  • Notes: Very generous nose with floral and juicy citrus, textured and fruity palate. The heat comes through as it warms up, revealing the warm climate terroir.
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Viticulture

  • Certified Organic
  • Climate: Humid Mediterranean
  • Soil: Rocky limestone
  • Vine age: Planted between 1970 and 2005
  • Altitude: 500m
  • Slope: 20%
  • Planting density: 8,500 shoots / ha
  • Yield: 1kg / plant
  • Irrigation: None
  • Spraying: Spraying with bordeaux mix once, in the beginning of summer
  • Harvesting: Manually in crates

Vinification

  • Maceration: Skin contact for 2 days
  • Pressing: Press with low-moderate pressure
  • Temperature Control: During maceration (~10ºC) and fermentation limitation (<23ºC)
  • Yeast: Indigenous with spontaneous fermentation (35 days in stainless steel tank)
  • Malolactic: Naturally completed
  • Maturation: 5 months in stainless steel tank
  • Clarification: None
  • Filtration: None
  • Production: 1,600 lt
  • Alcohol: 13.70%
  • Acidity: 5.50 gr/l
  • Volatile Acidity: 0.70 gr/l
  • RS: 4.80 gr/l
  • Total sulfites: 0 mg/l
  • Certification: USDA Organic Wine
  • Bottle: 750ml

Siflogo is a small organic wine “workshop” (as their owners call it), which was founded in 1994 by Dionysis and Maria Papanikolopoulos, in the small, mountainous village “Platystoma”, on the island of Lefkada in the Ionian sea. Their son, Vasilis, is also involved and destined to take over after a few years.

Viticulture and winemaking has been a family tradition and occupation for many generations. Its production is limited to a handful of “pure” wine bottles. The family has been farming organically (certified) the island’s indigenous grapes: Vertzami, Vardea, but also more obscure grapes, like Mavropatrino, Chlori, Thiako, Apsrovartzamo, Kokkinostafylo.

At an altitude of 500m on the dry, poor, limestone rocky soils – which have never seen chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or any harmful intervention – the vines struggle to produce low yields, which, however, lead to impressive results in the winery. Farming is done exclusively by hand, with only a little help from plant fertilization, bluestone, and sulphur.

Lefkada is renowned for its physical beauty. Picturesque villages, dense vegetation, impressive bays with clear green-blue waters, organized and isolated beaches of immense beauty, a strong local culture, and hospitable residents.

It is the fourth largest (both in size and population) island of the Ionian sea, with about 23,000 residents. It is also one of the only two Greek islands, that are connected to the mainland through a bridge (the other being Evia).

The topography of the island features steep mountains, multiple bays and little peninsulas, essentially forming fascinating fjords, and impressive world famous beaches. The most famous ones are Porto Katsiki, Kathisma, and Egremni.