Yiannis Economou is the lonely vintner of Ziros, the small town high up on the austere, high-desert plateau of the same name, about 30km south of the city of Sitia, in the far eastern stretches of Crete. His is literally the only winery in the area (the closest winemaking neighbor is about a 45min drive away). Yiannis lives and works out of a 400 year old farmhouse, and farms around ten hectares of pre-phylloxera ungrafted bush vines, including the native liatiko (his own clone, which he claims is strikingly different from the liatiko grown in Dafnes).

It's high enough here (around 2000ft) that the daytime temperatures stay fairly low (for the south Mediterranean). Ziros also sits just above the southeastern coast of the island, so there's a constant ocean breeze. Yiannis likes to experiment with many different cuvées, and whatever doesn't pass the final test he simply throws into casks to end up as vinegar.

This 2015 has an explosion of spice and dried flowers on the nose, with some oxidative elements, before condensing to dark cherry and plum compote on the palate, with some cooked herbs, and rich tannins. When pairing, think spice explosion, it's an opulent wine. Drink with tomato sauce based pastas like pappardelle bolognese, braised short-ribs, meat stews, or roast lamb.