Notes from Diamond Imports:

"Crete is home to a number of native varieties, there are relatively few plantings of Kotsifali, it can produce elegant reds with high acidity, fine tannins and bright red fruit, but is often hidden in blends. The grapes come from a plot of 40 year old ungrafted bush vines planted at 750-850 metres above sea level. The soils are rocky with lots of quartz and iron in the black schist which sits over a bedrock of slate.

Founded in 2021 by former sommelier Aimilios Andrei and winemaker Dimitris Skouras, AÔRI, which means “mountains” in the local dialect, began when Aimilios was out hunting pheasants near the village of Spina. He stumbled upon a forgotten parcel of ungrafted Muscat vines at 850 meters. He immediately called Dimitris, recognizing the vineyard's remarkable potential. Though he wasn’t typically a fan of this aromatic varietal, he recognized the quality of the vineyard as it was ungrafted, densely planted on schist soils over slate, so he thought to give it a try to make wine from this site. The result is a focused range of site-expressive wines built on altitude, old vines, and restrained technique.