Thalassinos Microwinery 'The Cultist' 2022 750ml

GREECE : CRETE : HERAKLION BIODYNAMIC : Vidiano FULL-BODIED, DRIED APRICOT, PEACH COMPOTE, CHAMOMILE, SEA SALT, NO OAK Thalassinos Microwinery is a fourth-generation family estate in Foinikia, outside Heraklion — a 250-year-old farm run by Isidoros Thalassinos and Virginia, who make wines in extremely small quantities using indigenous yeasts, zero additives, and no filtration. The Cultist is their most committed expression: 100% Vidiano, the main white grape of Crete, with roughly 100 days of skin contact in amphora and spontaneous fermentation, then 25 months of aging before bottling — no sulfur added. The result is an amber-tea orange wine with real tannin and a mineral backbone that keeps things honest. At 11.5% ABV there's nothing to hide behind — just the grape, the clay, and the island. PAIRINGS : Grilled octopus with lemon the sea-salt thread and mild tannin cut right through the char Aged sheep's milk cheese beeswax and dried apricot notes bridge cleanly to firm dairy fat Slow-braised lamb shoulder the wine's chamomile and herbal lift echoes the Cretan spice rack