Siflogo Vardea Amber 2024

Siflogo Winery sits in a small mountain village on the Ionian island of Lefkada, where Dionysis Papanikolopoulos and his wife Maria began making wine in 1994 to preserve local heritage. This amber wine comes from Vardea, an indigenous Lefkada variety, farmed organically. The island climate is maritime, with sea breezes and warm days that ripen the fruit while keeping aromatics fresh, and the poor hillside soils restrain yields. The colour and texture come from skin contact: the juice macerates on its skins, drawing out phenolics and pigment that give an orange wine its amber hue, light tannic grip and savoury depth that a conventional white lacks. Worked as a natural, vegan wine with minimal intervention, it keeps a direct, unforced character. The colour is amber gold. The nose shows dried apricot, orange peel and wild herbs over a stony, earthy base. On the palate it is dry and textured, with citrus peel, white peach and a gentle tannic pull, closing on thyme and a salty freshness. Serve at 12 to 14 degrees in a white wine glass. It works well with grilled white fish and herb salads.