Idaia Winery

Crete

Vasilis Laderos and Calliope Volitaki are the exciting winemakers of Idaia, a small winery located in the village of Venerato. Although this winery is an extremely small production facility (5 acres), the wines produced here has got some significant international attention. This is largely in part to the experience of these talented winemakers who also work as consultants to neighboring wineries but also due to the microclimate, the calcareous soil on which their vineyards are located.

IDAIA is the ancient name of Crete. Idaia was the name of the mother of ten boys, Koureetes. Their father was Dias, the king of Crete. Dias named the whole island “Idaia”, to honour his wife. The daisy with the eight leaves on the label is derived from the ancient Plate of Faistos that was unearthed in the nearby Minoan ruins. The ancient Cretans believed that it symbolizes Sirius, the star.

Vasilis and Calliope make wines from indigenous Cretan grapes such as Mandilaria, Thrapsathiri, Vilana and Vidiano. They also cultivate some international varieties such as Grenache and Syrah for blending. Crete has a an ancient history of viticulture and this region south of Heraklion has been making wines for millennia. Idaia follows in these fine foot steps and are an incredible introduction to the variety and beauty of wines from Crete.

We are delighted to partner with Vasilis and Calliope to make this limited production wines available here for the first time.