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Sun red

Sun red exhibits a rare elegance in a red Greek wine, by blending the graceful and aromatic Limniona grape, with the rustic and earthy Xinomavro, resulting in a natural organic wine of unique character and finesse.

  • Grower: Kontozisis Organic Vineyards
  • Vintage: 2016
  • Grapes: Limniona 50% / Xinomavro 50%
  • Appellation: PGI Karditsa
  • Alcohol: 13%
  • Bottle: 750ml
  • Viticulture: Organic (certified)
  • Vinification: A 24-hour cold storage and manual selection follows after harvesting. Pre-fermentation cold extraction at 7-10C takes place for 48 hours, and temperature rises to initiate fermentation with indigenous yeasts. Skin contact lasts for 30 days, aged for 9 months in new and old oak and then another 1.5 year in inbox, and then bottled unfiltered with a few sulfites.
  • Notes: Bright red color with violet hints, deep aromas of wild cherry, sour cherry seeds, tomato and floral hints of magnolia, with a second wave of spicy and dried herbal notes. Clean palate with ripe and sweet tannins, with tomato leaves and toasted bread.

Key Info

Viticulture

  • Organic (certified)
  • Climate: Vineyards on flat topography, with humid microclimate.
  • Soil: Moderately 
deep sandy-loamy soils with low organic matter and neutral pH. 
Average water reserves, suitable for dry land farming.
  • Vine age: Planted between 1991 and 2000
  • Altitude: 200-250m
  • Slope: Semi-flat
  • Planting density: 4,000 plants / ha
  • Yield: 1-1.5kg / plant
  • Irrigation: Drip
  • Spraying: Minimal copper, sulfur dusting
  • Harvesting: Manual

Vinification

  • Maceration: Stainless steel (30 days)
  • Yeast: Indigenous (spontaneous fermentation for 22 days in stainless steel)
  • Temperature: No control
  • Malolactic: Natural (completed)
  • Press: None
  • Maturation: 3 months in new oak, 6 months in old oak, and 1.5 year in stainless steel tanks)
  • Clarification: None
  • Filtration: None
  • Production: 2,500 lt
  • Alcohol: 13%
  • Acidity: 5.20 gr/l
  • RS: 2.30 gr/l
  • Total sulfites: 50 mg/l
  • Certification: Organic grapes
  • Bottle: 750ml

Winery

Kontozisis has been practicing certified organic agriculture and organic vinification since 1991, one of the first to get such a certification in Greece. His long term commitment to organic practices shows his honest approach to sustainability. Andreas Kontozisis and his partner Aphrodite Tousia are working passionately with the area’s indigenous red grape, Limniona, among others, for which they have developed proprietary vineyard techniques to get as much concentration as possible from the variety’s large grapes. All grapes are hand harvested and pruned from the low-yield (28 hectoliters / ha) estate-owned vineyards of 11 ha. Kontozisis uses no press (only free run wines) and no commercial yeasts.

Region

Karditsa is a rural town in Thessaly, in the center of Greece. It is the bicycle capital of Greece, with many bicycle roads and many residents using them as their main transportation mean.

Its terroir is largely defined by the nearby Agrafa mountains, and the artificial Plastira lake. It is also in close proximity to the impressive Meteora rocks, which host the second most important cluster of monasteries in Greece.