June 2, 2014
Mecouri Estate S.A. visit and tasting, then On to Crete
I had the windows of my ocean view room open all night and slept like a baby. There's nothing quite like waking up to the sound of the ocean. I got out of bed and took a look outside. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. There was a lone fisherman in a small boat cruising towards the nearby reef, so I grabbed my video camera to get a shot from my balcony.
After making use of the walk-in marble shower, which was so refreshing, I went down to the dining area for a quick breakfast. Darrell was already there with Sofia. I took in some coffee and a basic Greek continental breakfast, then went back to my room to pack up. We loaded up the van and left the Mare Dei Resort about 9:30 am and headed to Mercouri Estate. Vasilis Kanellakopoulos, the 4th generation of 5 generations of family winemakers, met us as we pulled into the estate. We had a brief look around the grounds, which were beautiful. So many elements of the winery remain from its 150 year history. Peacocks roam freely among the buildings and wonderfully landscaped grounds. Vasilis lead us on a small tour of the winery. We started inside an old building, which has become their estate museum. Here's a link to more information about Mercouri Estate - Mercouri Estate Info
In honor of our visit, the estate was flying the American flag alongside the Greek Flag.
There is a small monument at the edge of the estate noting that the self rooted vineyard was first planted there in the year 1870.
The original Mercuori Estate family residence.
The winery building was next after we finished in the museum. It was filled with lots of memorabilia, which made it feel like a wonderful extension of the museum.
Olive crushing stones.
After the winery tour, we made our way over to an outdoor area of the estate. We passed more winery relics and peacocks galore as we went.
We came to an open area shaded nicely by evergreen trees. They had about a dozen tables set up each staffed with regional wine producers and their wines. It was now time to go to work tasting. The wines we tasted here at Mercouri were the broadest example of Greek varietals so far. We tasted wines made from Malagouzia, Rodotis, Vertzami, Lagorthi, Mavrodaphne, Mavro Kalavritino, Muscat of Cephalonia, Robola of Cephalonia, Black Korinthaki, Agiorgitiko, Moschofilero, Red Roditis, Asyrtiko, Mavroudi, Kidonitsa, Sideritis, Muscat of Rio Patras, Robola, Black of Kalavryta, and Asproudes either blended or as single varietal wines. The taste profiles were all very agreeable to outright delicious.
After we finished tasting, it was time for lunch. On our way to the limo van, Zachary made a new friend in the very laid back vineyard dog relaxing in the warm sun. We loaded up the limo van and made a short drive to Akpwtnpi Cafe Bar Restaurant.
Akpwtnpi Cafe Bar Restaurant in located right on the Ionian coast line just a few minutes north of Mercouri Estates. We arrived and were seated at a long table with Vasilis and a good number of the producers from the tasting at Mercouri Estates. First up was a delicious appetizer of fried prawns., followed by green salad, straw and hay pasta with hard cheese and salumi, steamed vegetables, and local fish with butter and lemon.
After we finished eating and tasting some wines from the Mercouri tasting with lunch, Darrell and I walked around the restaurant. There was a fenced area next door with grape vines, chicken, and a rooster. If you're curious as to how a rooster says "cock-a-doodle-do" in Greek, just take a look.
It was now about 1 pm. Sofia asked us to take our last bites and sips, say our farewells, then hurry into the limo van. We had a 4 hour drive to Athens International Airport to make our 6 pm flight to Crete. Time was getting tight. We all napped most of the way. We made a quick rest stop on the main highway with about an hour and a half left to go. Now heading east along the highway past the Straight of Corinth provided us with a better view of the Saronic Gulf.
With about 30 minutes to spare, we made it to the airport and checked in. It appeared that we would make it ok until the counter agent at Olympic had issue with Darrell's box. They made him leave the line, have the box wrapped, then paid for in another line. after all of that we had about 10 minutes to make the gate, but first get through security. The security point became my problem. They made me break down my carry on filled with my cameras, and video cameras. They passed my Laptop through the x-ray scanner twice and my cameras twice before letting me pass. By the time I got everything put back inside my carry on bag, it was time to run to the gate. Garrett lagged behind to make sure we would make the gate. We were the last three on the bus at the gate, but we made it. The bus drove out onto the tarmac quite a way. We made it to a row of Olympic Air De Havilland Dash 8 400 Turboprop planes. The bus pulled along side one and we got off of the bus and onto our "puddle jumper" aircraft for our flight to Crete. As far as turboprop aircraft go, this model was pretty quiet and relatively smooth compared to others. It's a stretched model that seats 78, and every seat was taken.
The flight time was about was about 50 minutes to Heraklion International Airport. Heraklion is the capital and the largest city on Crete. We walked through the terminal and then to the luggage carousel. After collecting our luggage, we left the terminal to find our van and driver.
Being very consistent and an exceptional planner, Sofia had a Mercedes limo van lined up for us, which was very similar to the one we had while traveling through the Peloponnese. We loaded up and the driver took us to the Galaxy hotel, which is only 5 minutes away from the airport. This was our hotel for the next two nights. While at the front desk checking in, I noticed a very unique back-lit sign. I asked Darrell "Is that ancient text of some sort, or just art?" He very quickly replied " That's Mycenaean Linear B, which descended from Mycenaean Linear A. It predates the Greek alphabet by at least several centuries. You'll see more of it tomorrow when we visit the Palace at Knossos." I was amazed.
Mycenaean Linear B
After freshening up in our rooms, we all met in the lounge. We were soon joined by two local wine producers who would accompany us at dinner. We took to the streets and walked to Restaurant Merastri , which was only 3 blocks away. Restaurant Merastri is located inside in a Neo Classic building decorated antiques. They serve very authentic, high quality Cretan cuisine. Trip Advisor places Restaurant Merastri in the top 10 of nearly 200 restaurants in Heraklion. Here is a link to the rating - Trip Advisor Rating
Greek version of an "American Hustle" movie poster. It was playing at a movie theater we passed by.
We sat to a table with cured olives, fresh tomato salsa, rustic bread, olive oil, and very good Cretan spring water. Soon after the courses began to arrive. First up was a local variety of grilled cheese with lemon, which was reminiscent of fried Halloumi. Next we had a type of Cretan meat pie, Fava of Santorini, Greek salad, a delicious fresh wide noodle dish with tomato and herbs, and then the meat came in the way of two lamb dishes. The first was lamb in a buttery cream sauce, and the second an oven baked lamb called "Ofto." For dessert, we were served syruped orange spoon fruit, a type of cheese filled doughnut, and ice cream with grape syrup. We had nearly a dozen Cretan wines with dinner. They all seemed to nice show a terroir, which was different than the Peloponnese in a very good way.
We posed for a group picture after dinner, then made our way back to the Galaxy hotel. We passed a very interesting looking butcher shop who's signage definitely showed a diversity in what one would expect to find in the way Mediterranean island meats. We arrived back at the hotel and I noticed a door which was marked "Per se Lounge", I wondered if it had elements of New York night life, but was too tired to venture in. It was bed time.
