NEWS
Domaine
Karanika distribution by Grieksewijnen.com
Grieksewijnen.com from Barendrecht will be distributing our
wines in the Netherlands as from today. Martin van der Heiden
from Grieksewijnen.com has visited our winery last month and
was very enthusiastic not only about Karanika but about the
Amyntaio area as a whole. Look at www.grieksewijnen.com
for more information.
Proeverij
29 november 1800 uur. In Den Haag bij Schutters Wijnlokaal
aan de Balistraat 81B organiseert Domaine Karanika haar najaarsproeverij.
Het is een unieke kans om een gebottelde geschiedenis te proeven.
Een rode wijn (vintage 2007) van onze 100 jaar oude
Xinomavro stokken. Ongeënte wijnstokken van deze
leeftijd zijn zeer zeldzaam in de wereld. Een wijn exclusief
gemaakt van deze stokken zo mogelijk nog zeldzamer. Deze etiketloze
wijn komt niet in de handel, maar is in zeer beperkte oplage
tijdens deze proeverij te verkrijgen. Verder presenteren we
onze pas gebottelde rode wijnen, Terra Levea Cabernet - Xinomavro
2009 en de Terra Levea Grand Reserve 2008. Deze rode wijnen
uit Macedonie in het uiterste Noorden van Griekenland zijn zeer
aromatisch, met fluweelzachte tannines, krachtig fruit, frisse
zuurtjes, enorme lengte en met een aangenaam laag alcohol gehalte
van 12,5%. Dit is het gevolg van de eigenwijze aanpak van Domaine
Karanika.
Verras uw vrienden tijdens de feestdis met deze bijzondere maar
toegangelijke wijnen.
Ook te proeven zijn de kakelverse wijnen van de
oogst 2010. Hoewel nog niet gereed, ze zijn het (voor-)proeven
meer dan waard. Het gaat om een witte Assyrtiko,
de rosé van Xinomavro en Cab en de bijzondere
mousserende witte wijn van Xinomavro. Gemaakt
volgens de regels van de kunst uit de Champagne.
Harvest 2009 difficult but promising
Harvest 2009 was a challenge. The weather in June was devastating.
It started with a destructive hailstorm. And was followed by
3 weeks of continuous rain. The rest of the summer was somewhat
cooler than usual. Less sunshine, and more rain. Because we
work on a biological basis we could not prevent an outbreak
from downy mildew (Peronosporos) especially in our 4 year old
Assyrtiko and Limniona. They proved to be too vulnerable. The
older Xinomavro vineyards were more resistant and the frequent
copper sprayings did their job. But we could not achieve overall
ripeness. Sugar levels were lower, acidity higher. The grapes
were phenolical ripe though not overripe and the color was ok.
Here's an overview: Assyrtiko, could not be
harvested because of Peronosporos. The 200 liters we could save
gave us a hint that next year we can expect a super white wine.
Highly aromatic. Limniona underwent the same
fate. Although we could save somewhat more: 500 liters. This
variety needs some time to develop aromas and taste. So we'll
come back on this. Cabernet Sauvignon proved
to be more resistant to the mildew. The result is enough sugar
and colour, and somewhat high in the acidity range. Perfect
for the xinomavro blend. The 1000 kg Merlot
we bought from Spirtouli was somewhat low in sugar, high in
acidity. It remains to be seen what it will do after a few months
in barrique. The Xinomavro blanc de
noirs for Sparkling wine was harvested at 10.5 baume.
Our first impression: very aromatic, normal acidity for this
maturity (very high). Perfect for sparkling wine. Thank God
we decided to harvest about 6000 kilos xinomavro to make 2500
liters base wine (=40% yield with basket press). With an average
yield of 5000 kilo per hectare this means that more than one
third of our Xinomavro went to the sparkling wine project. Xinomavro
for rose was perfect. Enough sugar, perfect acidity
and aromas. This will be a top rose year....Xinomavro
for Terra Levea red: We are anxious to find out how
our gentle handling approach and fermentation in oak will work
for these particular grapes. The Xinomavro did nog reach perfect
phenolic ripeness although the colour is ok. Acidity is high
and the alcohol level is medium. Half of the Xinomavro was fermented
with wild yeast, so this should add some complexity to the wine.
At the moment we are extending the skincontact time to gain
some body and length.
June 2009 Construction Domaine Karanika finished
The construction process of the three storey domaine Karanika
in Amyntaio has finished at last. It commenced early june 2007.
After 2 years of preparations, bureaucracy, disappointments,
waiting and hard work it finally is happening. A dream comes
true. An awful cliche but very true.
April 2009
The huge cooling unit is being put in place. It
will only be used for cooling the vats during primary fermentation
and heating them for starting the malolactic fermentation, and
for cold stabilisation of the white and rose wines. It is not
used for climate control because the building is carefully isolated
and dug deep into the ground. During last years heatwaves (over
40 degrees C) the temperature in the cellars did not exceed
19 degrees Celcius. Also during last winter minus 15 degrees
Celsius the inner temp did not drop under 10 degrees Celsius.
January 2009
This is how Domaine Karanika looks in winter time.
Average snowfall and pretty cold. Ideal circumstances for the
grapevines.
Oktober 2008
Piegage of the Xinomavro of our 80+ year old vineyard.
This is really the most gentle way of handling the grapes. Did
anyone say that winemaking isn't hard work.
March 15th 2008
Its pruning time. There was no real progress in
the building activities in the winery. The appartment is ready.
And the result is really nice as you can see in the picture
below. Last 2 weeks we were pruning with the help of Carolina
from Holland. Here I am, burning the cuttings of the Xinomavro
vines in the fire pot. Spring is in the air. The almond trees
are blossoming. Night temperature is around 0 degrees Celsius,
daytime temperature is arond 18 degrees. This vineyard is from
our neighbour in Amyntaio. An old man who is tired of working
in his vineyard. We can work the vineyard and keep the crop,
free of charge. As you can see, the old man was not an expert
pruner. But I guess the quality of the fruit will be very good.
Rose
2007 best bargain according to Winereport 2009
The Domaine Karanika XM rose 2007 is a best bargain wine. Also
Winereport informs its readers to watch Domaine Karanika as
an up-and coming producers. Further author Manessis states that
''the estate has opened its doors to wine tourism in the revitalized
Amyntaio region
Vintage 2006
2006 started off to be a perfect vintage for Amyndeo. All went
well until late september. It started raining and this did not
stop until the 15th of oktober. So inevitably Grey Rot affected
almost 80 per cent of all the vineyards in the Amyndeon appellation.
Fortunately most Amyndeon farmers were compensated by the Greek
government. The karanika vineyards did not escape. All but two
of our vineyards. The grapes from these vineyards were used
for the red and rose wines. The remaining grapes were not harvested
because of their poor quality. Instead of the expected 25 tons
we harvested only 9 tons. So we were able to produce about 3000
bottles of rose and 3000 bottles of red wine. The two vineyards
escaped because of careful vineyard management like crop thinning,
removing of leaves, not using fertilisers etc.
Sparkling
Karanika Wines is ready to start the production of Sparkling
Wine using the Methode Traditionel. In January 2007 Laurens
travelled te Epernay, Champagne to buy the necessary equipment.
Karanika wines already produced a base wine from Xinomavro from
the 2006 vintage (10 beaume, pH 3 and 6,5 gr/l total acidity).
The base wine will be bottled for the 'prise de mousse' in march
2007. It is estimated that the first batch will be released
in march 2008.
40
hL Oak
Karanika's red wine from the 2006 harvest has just finished
fermenting in the brand new 40 hl oak vat build by Marc Grenier
from Burgundy. Greniers' vats are used by most famous wineries
in the world.
Decanter
award 2005
XM Rose 2004 receives Decanter World Wine Recommend Award in
her second year as wine producer. Laurens Hartman of Karanika
wines looks upon this award as a conformation he is on the right
track. It is a modest first step. But the ulimate goal is the
Gold Award. Not only for the rose but for the white and reds
as well. ''Next year we will try even harder. We've learned
a lot this year'' he says.
Wine
report brings Karanika story
Wine report 2007 pominently brings the Karanika story. Nico
Manessis of Wine Report 2007 writes on page 218: Update:
foreigners arrive. Further to Wine Reports' 2004 ''Foreigners
wanted'' we (almost) have some foreign investment in the northwest
of Macedonia. Dutch couple Laurens and Annette Hartman have
put their faith and money in the cooler climate plateau (650m)
of Amyndeo. Situated on a property close to the village of Vegoras,
Karanika Wines has moved from the Hatzis winery on the outskirts
of Amyndeo to a three storey, gravity flow all-new winery. In
addition to the existing 15-year-old Xinomavro vineyards, the
Hartmans are planting Assyrtiko and Sauvignon blanc. According
to Laurens, future plans will include ''Riesling (my great white
love), if possible. However, my ambition is to create the best
red Xinomavro ever made. I first have to make small batches
from low yields to learn the terroir and can then blend the
desired red wine: an aromatic complex, subtle, not massive,
wine suitable for ageing." Local boy Makis Mavridis, partner
at Alpha Estate, the region's leading name, welcomes the incomers.
13
june 2005
XM rose 2004 wins third price at Rose aan Zee event in Scheveningen
on the 11th and 12th of june. The subscribers of Perswijn, the
leading wine magazine of the Netherlands voted for their favorite
rose. Dutch traders entered about 50 roses from all over the
world.
Picture
Gallery
Laurens stands proudly before their only recently
bottled sparkling Xinomavro 2009 for the prise de mousse, or
the second fermentation. February 2011 the first batch will
be ready to be presented to the public.
Harvest 2009. Joris gets help from grandpa Arnold
and grandma Ria.
.jpg)
Cleaning up of vines with help from Jiannis in
june 2009
