2022 Sclavos Orgion, Mavrodaphne of Cephalonia

2022 Sclavos Orgion, Mavrodaphne of Cephalonia Sclavos is a family estate on the Paliki peninsula near Lixouri, Cephalonia, in Greece's Ionian Islands, with the family's first vineyard planting dating back to 1919. The estate has been certified organic since 1986 and has followed biodynamic principles since 1996, farming on sandy, rocky soils with cup-trained bush vines and deliberately low yields to concentrate the fruit. Mavrodaphne was traditionally used almost exclusively for sweet, fortified wines in Greece, but Evriviadis Sclavos broke with that convention in 1996 by releasing the first dry version of the variety under the Orgion label, a wine that helped open the door for a wider revival of dry Mavrodaphne from the Ionian islands. The 2022 is fermented naturally, undergoes both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, and matures around 12 months in oak barrels before being bottled without filtration and with minimal added sulfur, keeping sulphite levels close to those of a natural wine. In the glass, the 2022 shows a deep ruby color. The nose is led by chocolate and cocoa, with plum, raspberry, coffee bean, and tobacco underneath, rounded out by cinnamon and an earthy, fresh-soil quality that develops as the wine opens. On the palate it's medium-bodied, with unexpectedly velvety tannins and the variety's characteristic refreshing acidity; plum, dried fig, and that same chocolate note carry through to a long, persistent finish. It pairs well with cooked red meats, meat pies, and yellow/aged cheeses, and at 13% ABV it has enough structure to reward a few years of cellaring alongside its immediate drinkability.