| 2018 |
France |
Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of The World 2007 |
www.blindtasted.com |
2017 |
Medium deep straw colour. Pure nose offering some yellow fruit, ripe citrus, some stony and floral hints. The palate has medium weight with good purity and generous fruit, peach and pear flavours with a bright freshness. Good density and length, nice character, purity and freshness. |
| 2017 |
U.K. |
International Wine Competition |
www.decanter.com |
2016 |
Honey and quince of the nose. Sweet fruit on the palate, juicy with mid palate concentration. A long finish showing good complexity. |
| 2017 |
U.S.A. |
Mark Squires, Wine Journalist |
www.robertparker.com |
2016 |
The 2016 Vidiano Dafnios is all Vidiano, unoaked and coming in at 13.7% alcohol. As clean and fresh as this is, it also showAuthors fine solidity in the mid-palate and a nice finish. Granting that it is a bit tight in its youth, its purity of fruit is rather glorious. This is not, to be sure, a wine (or grape) with much personality. It leans more to a dry, clean Chardonnay. It finishes with very little in the way of fruitiness--on other vintages, I've noted more--but it still manages to grip the palate, at least now and in its youth. It should open up a bit if you give it a few months in the cellar and it might be better in the spring of 2018. Finally, the winery and the importer advise that this can age for over 10 years, maybe as much as 15. How gracefully it will age and develop, as opposed to merely holding on, is still a question to me, though, and given variable storage conditions, let's go slow and be conservative. Take it in stages. |
| 2016 |
U.K. |
International Wine Competition |
www.decanter.com |
2015 |
The darling grape of Crete. Smells ripe and fruity with a peach and floral nose. Outstanding value at this price. A convincing answer to Viognier with racy acidity. |
| 2016 |
France |
Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of The World 2007 |
www.blindtasted.com |
2014 |
Quite good intensity here, light golden colour but still youthful, so it has a green tinge. Quite tropical nose. There is ripe fruit here, a bit more ripeness than some previous examples. More in the direction here of yellow fruit, stone fruit. There is still a good presence of fresh citrus, like lemon or lime. Really floral, with hints of apricot, yellow plum. Perhaps a bit of oak, but in that case very discreet. There is a slight hint of nuttiness or something that reminds me of something roasted. Nice palate there. Medium weight but quite broad on the palate. With lush yellow fruit, underlined by lemon and lime zest, fresh almond. The acidity is well-integrated. Quite high acidity, good sensation of freshness on the palate. Medium towards long finish. Well-rounded, really juicy with a good purity of fruit. Good drinkability today and over the few coming years. |
| 2015 |
U.K. |
International Wine Competition |
www.decanter.com |
2014 |
Mineral driven vibrant and fruity nose with charm and freshness. The big fresh fruit palate is balanced by really good juicy acidity, and has herbal tea hints adding complexity, long and really well balanced, lovely wine. |
| 2015 |
France |
Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of The World 2007 |
www.blindtasted.com |
2014 |
Medium deep straw colour, some hints of sweet citrus, almonds and nuts, good structure on the palate, pure and fresh yellow fruit with fine length and balance. |
| 2015 |
France |
Markus Del Monego MW, Best Sommelier of The World 1998 |
www.blindtasted.com |
2014 |
Bright yellow colour with green hue. Discreet nose with restrained fruit, hints of citrus fruit, apple and pear. On the palate well structured with good mouthfeel, medium weight and length. |
| 2015 |
U.S.A. |
Mark Squires, Wine Journalist |
www.robertparker.com |
2014 |
The 2014 Vidiano Dafnios is unoaked and comes in at 13% alcohol. This opened a bit on the piercing side, but as it aired and warmed, the texture became more velvety and caressing, while the fruit seemed surprisingly rich and sappy. Bursting with flavor, this is a tasty treat that is fruit-forward, but not merely fruity. It is a very nice bargain, too. If it is not quite as much of an overachiever as the winery's Femina (which has become one of my can't-miss favorites), it is no slouch in the value-for-money category. However long it theoretically holds, drink it young and fresh for best results. The more I taste wines from Douloufakis, the happier I am with them. They all seem to be overachievers. They taste great and the prices run from nice to amazing. |
| 2014 |
Canada |
John Szabo, MS |
www.winealign.com |
2013 |
Produced from 100% vidiano, one of the top white varieties on the Island of Crete, by one of it's leading proponents. The 2013 is somewhat subtle on the nose but the palate is explosively fruity and fullish, substantially flavoured and very ripe, with mostly yellow orchard fruit and some mango-guava-papaya tropical fruit. Very good length. A fine, fruity unoaked wine that runs in the same style spectrum as, say, viognier. |
| 2014 |
U.S.A. |
Mark Squires, Wine Journalist |
www.robertparker.com |
2013 |
The 2013 Vidiano Dafnios is a wonderfully fresh Vidiano with persistent flavor and lovely texture. Lively and clean, it is simply irresistible just now, completely charming and quite delicious. This is a relatively new winery on our shores, but every time I taste their whites in particular, I'm sold. When you see how fresh, enchanting and clean this Vidiano is, you may wonder why some are oaked (yet oak often does work). Each to his own, to be sure, but I think this is far more charming than the winery's own oaked Vidiano, also reviewed this issue. Drink now-2017. |
| 2013 |
U.S.A. |
Mark Squires, Wine Journalist |
www.robertparker.com |
2012 |
The 2012 Vidiano Dafnios is quite charming, pure, solid and powerful, with a lingering, crisp finish. This is a grape most don’t know, but it does pop up on Crete in various versions. It looks like it has some potential for the future. I loved the earthy, minerally undertone and its focused persistence on the finish. Tightly wound and relatively full bodied, it shows beautifully, another winner from this newly arrived (on our shores) winery and a nice deal. Drink now-2016. |
| 2012 |
U.S.A. |
Mark Squires, Wine Journalist |
www.robertparker.com |
2011 |
The 2011 Vidiano “Dafnios” is all Vidiano, indigenous to Crete. I’ve seen it elsewhere on Crete, although this is the first time seen from this winery. It is clean and crisp with a slight lemony tinge early on. With sufficient body for its price range and nice persistence on the flavorful and juicy finish, this is a wine with good purity of fruit that is refreshing, but reasonably solid and round in the mid-palate. It should function well as a summer weight white, but it can also match up to some foods. It won’t reward cellaring. Drink it young and fresh. It should be great in the summer of 2013. Drink now-2015. |
