Cretan wine tour and tasting

Meet Stella

Stella is an agricultural engineer, oenologist, food scientist and culinary educator, who organizes wine tasting in the Cretan countryside. She grew up in Choudetsi, a small village in Crete (22km south of Heraklion), and from an early age she accompanied her parents to the family vineyards and olive orchards where she loved to explore the Cretan fauna and flora. Charmed by the wine world, Stella traveled and worked in wine production in Greece (Kefalonia, Santorini and Crete), USA (Oregon), France (Bordeaux and Pauillac) and Scotland (Auchterarder). She also loves hiking and walking in nature, where she can observe the different types of plants and pick herbs that can be used for infusions. Stella is so excited to meet people from different countries and share with them her passion for wine and food. On this experience you can expect extensive information on Crete’s wine history, the grapes in Crete and all the wines the island has to offer.

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

Food tour: (2-12 guests) In your 3-hour experience you will enjoy a visit to the family vineyard, a tasting of some of the finest Cretan wines, that will be paired with local ingredients like cheese, herbs, honey and ham. Start your experience at the tasting room with a short video and power point presentation to understand how the Cretan landscape and its grapes affect the wine production. Then drive towards the family vineyard, the field is 5km away from the tasting room and it’s recommended to have a car or van. In the vineyard you will get an opportunity to engage in some of the vineyard work depending on the season – it can be pruning if it’s winter, taking off leaves or branches, or tying branches on the wires if it’s spring or harvesting some grapes if it’s summer. After your short walk in the vineyard, it’s time for the wine tasting! It can either be done in the tasting room or in the vineyard as a picnic under the trees (if you prefer the latter you need to inform Stella in advance, and as it is a picnic you will sit on the ground).

The wine tasting includes 5 wines, which come from different wineries on the island and are made with local grapes. The offered wines can also be chosen according to your preference (white, rosé, red), which again needs to be discussed in advance with Stella and within the budget. You will be given a pencil, a leaflet (which includes information about the Cretan vineyard, the grapes, the way one tastes and appreciates wine aromas and some space to keep the wine tasting notes) and post cards to remember the tasting experience. By tasting different wines (winemaker, style, grapes) it will give you insight to a wide variety of wines that come from Crete. The dishes offered during the wine tasting are local products such as cheese, season fruit, some homemade sauce (bell peppers or tomatoes) served with paximadi (a local rusk), jams, sundried tomatoes and local smoked ham called apaki.

Notes: Your wine tour takes place in Choudetsi village (22km south of Heraklion) and Stella recommends getting here by car. Also, children under the age of 18 are not recommended for this experience, you need to be the official legal drinking age to take this tour

Languages spoken: English, French, Greek

Sample menu

• The wine tasting includes 5 wines (white, rosé, red)
• A platter of 3 local cheeses accompanied with dried fruit, jam & breadsticks or small bites of paximadi (typical rusks of Crete)
• A small bowl of sliced cherry tomatoes & galomizithra cheese (local creamy cheese), olive oil & oregano/thyme
• Xinomizithra cheese with homemade sliced sundried tomatoes, fig jam & bread sticks
• Apaki (smoked tenderloin), the traditional ham of Crete, cooked with thyme honey & raisins
• For the vegetarian the apaki (ham) will be replaced with a dish that will include roasted vegetable or a vegetarian local pie