Manolesakis Estate Exis White 2025
£12.75
The wine
The white half of the Exis pair from the Manolesakis family near Drama. Malagousia brings the peachy, floral aromatics and Assyrtiko the citrus cut and acidity, in a light, dry and immediately likeable style at a very fair price.
Malagousia with Assyrtiko, the two grapes that between them define modern Greek white wine. Drama in eastern Macedonia is one of the coolest wine areas in the country, on the plain and lower slopes beneath the Falakro mountain, which gives a longer growing season than most of Greece manages.
The producer
Manolesakis Estate
View all Manolesakis Estate winesStavros Manolesakis and his father George began planting their own vineyards near Drama in 1989 and founded the estate in 1999. Drama sits in eastern Macedonia in northern Greece, close to the Bulgarian border.
It is one of the coolest and most promising wine areas in the country. The vineyards sit on the plain and lower slopes beneath the Falakro mountain, and the combination of northern latitude, altitude and mountain air gives a growing season considerably longer than most of Greece manages. Both native and international varieties do well.
Exis is the estate's range, and the red is the interesting one: it pairs Limnio, which Aristotle mentions in his writings and which may be the oldest named grape variety still in cultivation, with Moschomavro, a rare northern Greek native. Few producers work either seriously.
