Cretan Wine Tasting at Your Villa
Crete has been making wine for about four thousand years, and almost none of it reaches the shelves you buy from at home. The grapes have names most visitors have never seen — Vidiano, Vilana, Thrapsathiri, Liatiko, Kotsifali, Mandilari.
A tasting at the villa is the shortest way to understand what you have been drinking all week.
By Argyris Skordilis, owner and host · Updated
Why at the Villa and Not at a Winery
Visiting a winery is worth doing, and there are good ones within an hour of both villages. But it costs you a driver, an afternoon, and the part of the day when the pool is at its best.
A tasting at the villa turns that around. Nobody drives. Nobody watches the clock. The children can be in the pool ten metres away while the adults sit at the table. And when it finishes, you are already home.
What Actually Happens
Someone comes to the villa with the wines and pours them in order, explaining what each grape is, where on the island it grows and why it tastes the way it does. There is a tasting sheet in front of you with the island’s grapes down one side and an aroma wheel on the other, so you have words for what is in the glass.
Each wine arrives with a small dish cooked to go with it, because Cretan wine is made to be drunk with food rather than on its own. A recent tasting ran a sparkling Moschato Spinas with a wild-greens pie and xygalo Siteias, the soft cheese from the east of the island; Vidiano with a tomato stuffed with pepper, cucumber, onion, feta and olives; a rosé Liatiko with courgette flowers and mizithra in a light beer batter; and Kotsifali with apaki, caramelised onion and sun-dried tomato on bruschetta. Yours will not be that exact list — it is agreed for your date — but it is built the same way.
It sits in the late afternoon or early evening, before dinner rather than instead of it.
The Grapes You Will Meet
Which wines are poured depends on the year and on what is good that week, but the island’s own grapes are the point of the exercise:
- Vidiano — the white the island is proudest of, grown mostly in this part of Crete.
- Vilana — the everyday white, lighter, the one in most village carafes.
- Moschato Spinas — aromatic, often made sparkling, and usually the glass a tasting opens with.
- Liatiko — an old red, pale in the glass and nothing like its colour suggests; it also makes a rosé.
- Kotsifali and Mandilari — usually blended, and the reason Cretan red tastes of the place.
Dafni, Plyto, Thrapsathiri, Malvasia and Romeiko turn up too, depending on the year and on the producer.
Nobody will test you afterwards. But most guests leave able to read a Cretan wine list, which is more than they could do on arrival.
Adults Only, and Nobody Drives
This one has a rule attached, and it is not a formality. A tasting is a series of glasses, not one. Plan it for an evening when the car stays where it is, and tell Argyris if anyone in the group would rather not drink — there is always something else to pour.
What We Do Not Promise
- We do not run the tasting. It is led by an independent local provider, not by Amazing Villas in Crete.
- The experiences on request are not included in the villa price. A tasting is arranged and paid separately, directly with the provider.
- The wines are not fixed in advance on this page, and neither are the dishes or the price. All three are agreed for your date and your group.
- Availability is confirmed for your dates. July and August fill first.
People arrive thinking Greek wine means retsina and leave asking where they can buy Vidiano at home. The honest answer is that they usually cannot find the exact bottle they tasted. That is the whole argument for doing this while you are here.
Argyris Skordilis · Owner and host, Amazing Villas in Crete
Facts checked against our four villa pages · Last reviewed by Argyris Skordilis, owner of Amazing Villas in Crete.
Frequently asked questions
Can a wine tasting be arranged at every villa?
Yes, at all four. Tell Argyris your dates and he will check it for you. Nothing is booked or paid on this page.
Is it included in the villa price?
No. Nothing on the Experiences pages is included in the villa price. A tasting is arranged and paid separately, directly with the provider.
Is there food with it?
Yes. Each wine comes with a small dish cooked to go with it. It is still a tasting rather than dinner, so plan the evening around it rather than instead of it.
Which wines will we taste?
It depends on the year and on what is good that week, but the island’s own grapes are the point: Vidiano, Vilana, Moschato Spinas, Thrapsathiri, Liatiko, Kotsifali, Mandilari. The exact wines are agreed with the provider for your date.
Can children be present?
The tasting itself is for adults. Children being around the table or in the pool nearby is normal and nobody minds — tell Argyris how many of you there are so the afternoon is planned sensibly.
Should we plan to drive afterwards?
No. Plan it for an evening when the car stays where it is.
Would a winery visit be better?
It is a different day, and a good one. A visit costs you a driver and an afternoon; a tasting at the villa costs you neither. Several guests do both.
An Afternoon You Do Not Have to Drive Home From
Tell Argyris your dates, how many adults are travelling and whether you would like something to eat alongside. He will check what is possible for your dates.
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