Domaine Ligas

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Domaine Ligas 2020 Amphora Pella White, Greece

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Located in Northern Greece's region of Macedonia, Pella's history is interwoven with wine. Ancient mosaics of the region illustrate fertile land and the god of wine, wrapped in vine leaves. After the Othoman governor forbade the use of water to build the Church of the Virgin Mary during the 19th century, locals mixed their mortar with wine. When traveling along the Galikos River during the 20th century, the French army documented the quality local wines found near their encampment. Phyloxera and the drainage of a nearby lake wreaked havoc on the region's grape cultivation during the 1900s, but centuries of know-how and love inspired by the vineyards ensured that viticulture in the region would withstand.

After studying oenology in France, Thomas Ligas made his way to Pella in 1985, looking to study the local ecosystems and traditional methods of viticulture and vinification in the region. With bountiful sun and air, loamy sand and limestone and well-drained, nutrient rich soils, the terroir proved to be exceptional. Now joined by his children, Ligas farms organically and with minimal intervention. Fruit is harvested by hand and biodiversity is encouraged, including the preservation of naturally occurring turf.

The Ligas family only farms indigenous and often forgotten Greek grape varieties, including Roditis, Assyrtiko, Kydonitsa for the whites, and Xinomavro, Limniona for the reds. Optimal processing of the grapes and controlled fermentation are made possible by the family's modern, well-equipped winery. Red wines mature first in oak casks, then in bottles in the underground cellar. As in the vineyards, intervention in the cellar is kept to a minimum. Fermentation is spontaneous, wine is neither fined nor filtered, and little to no sulfur is added.