Kontozisis, A-Grafo Limniona Pet Nat, Karditsa, Greece

Description

Reader, I fell in love. It was my first wine of 2025, and it felt like a sip of hope. It’s semi-sparkling (the bubbles like a little daisy wreath of kisses on your lips) and it tastes like fresh watermelon with cubes of flame-grilled watermelon mixed in. It has blood-orange freshness through which runs the dark-red spice tones of sumac and paprika. It’s zipping with energy, but it’s also gentle, like strawberries softening to fat sweetness in long summer sunlight. You could drink this while you watch the sun rise. You could drink this while you watch the sun set. You could drink this by the fire with snow falling outside and you could drink this with your bare toes in a rock pool.

We had it with grilled prawns in herby, garlicky butter. To use a food-pairing cliché: perfect match. But, quite frankly, it’s the kind of wine that would go with anything – it has an intriguing dual nature of artless simplicity and subtle complexity. If you’re looking for more gentleness in 2025, this might be the perfect Valentine wine.