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They say you find beauty and love in unexpected places. Here’s an unexpected place. A village called Adam. How do you get here? For the GPS challenged, if you were approaching from Sithonia, you drive towards Polygiros, then go past Prodromos and then climb into the mountains before the road drops you into small Greek villages like Sana and Doumpia. Careful now.  The road winds and snakes and through these sleepy villages. Keep going until you reach Adam.

Why come here? Because here in one of the most unexpected of places, you will find a rare thing. Perfect vine clones. Perfect slopes. Perfect exposure. Low yields. Perfect wines. When I say “Perfect” in this context, I am not guilty of exaggeration. The Refosco and Malagouzia from Wines of Adam (or Oinos Adam as they are called) are actually used as benchmarks to  study these varietals. This is an extremely low yield, “no messing around in the vineyard” philosophy driven property. Only the perfect vintages are bottled.

In Nikos’ own words, “If one year we do not like the grapes we harvest, simply we do not ferment and have no wine.”

Note the emphasis on perfection here. This place is not “organic” just for the sake of saying that they are organic. This is a deep rooted philosophy which permeates the entire working of this farm. I am surprised they make any money doing this! They are Dimitri Mastrogiannis and Nikos Liaros. Their own stories another time. But first the wines..

2016 Chardonnay. A new wine from this property for me. This is all Inox. No oak. Just clean and fresh peaches, kafir lime and butterscotch. Dimitri mentioned that this was made in the style of Rhodes. I have no idea what style of Chardonnay is fancied in Rhodes, but if it is anything like this..drink it up my friends.

2016 Malagouzia. Wait a minute. Don’t rush me. By the time we arrived here, we have had quite a few Malagouzias. Everyone it seems is growing and working with this grape and I have had some really excellent ones recently. This is definitely among the top 3 I have had. A tropical flower garden and then more tropical fruits. There is viscosity and there is lightness. There is acidity that keeps this lively and balanced. Amazing Malgouzia for sure. Worth every penny!

2011 Refosco. This is one rich wine and it’s arrival after the whites is like a firm grip on the shoulder. Son, this is wine has nose of cedar, vanilla and sandalwood. Smells like a rich man’s cigar humidor. The fruits are unabashedly big and the tannins are prominent. There is an endearing rustic edge. This wine needs time in bottle.

2010 Refosco. A warm vintage with expected big fruit. The tannins are softer here but still present.

2009 Refosco. This was from a banner year and even Angelo Mastrogiannis was lucky to share this with us! The wine was decanted for a while before we tasted it. The nose was incredible. Cherries and currants. All the parts had come together. Could this be the best Refosco from anywhere?

2012 Refosco. Another warm vintage. Deep purple. Floral, leather and red fruit aromas. Good heft to this bad boy. Chocolate, plums, faint bitter finish with quite a bit of spice. Big tannins. Good acidity. Demands food and some time in a decanter. Note self: decant all Refoscos. (available now for sale)

2013 Refosco. Recently bottled. Will rest in bottle until February of 2018 before anyone sees this. The theme continues. Great fruit. The parts are all there. It will come deliciously together in a year!