Tetramythos Mavro Kalavrytino Natur 2022

A while back, we made a list of the producers we'd most like to work with. The first name down wasn’t Burgundian royalty or a cult Jura domaine, it was Tetramythos of the Peloponnese. Why? Because this small and largely unnoticed Greek winery is that holiest of grails – a producer of genuinely fine wines with very low prices.

Think of Greece and you don’t immediately picture cool climate winemaking. But the Tetramythos vineyards, high up the slopes of Mount Aroania overlooking the Corinthian Gulf, are the only significant north-facing vines in the country. There is a ski resort down the road. Planted with a mix that includes old vines as thick as tree trunks and vanishingly rare grape varieties, they look almost wild, but are farmed organically and with great care.

From this fruit, winemaker and noted Frank Zappa lookalike Panagiotis Papagiannopoulos crafts a range of natural wines that combine fine detail and thrilling purity. Each one has a story, whether it’s the Mavro Kalavrytino being single-handedly saved from extinction, the perfectly judged, amphorae-fermented Roditis Orange, or the country’s only single-site Retsina, gently infused with pine resin taken from the trees around the vineyard.

Whenever we have visited Tetramythos we have left astounded by the quality on offer at the prices asked. Pound for pound, these wines offer a level of interest and outright drinkability that is rarely matched.