Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WINE TASTING IN CRETE
As well as the large Péza region near Knossos and the ancient vineyard at Vathýpetro (see
p.460), there are also vineyards in eastern Crete, around Sitía, another major producer, and
smaller vineyards in the west around Haniá. The main grape varieties grown on the island are
the white Vilana and the red Mantilari, Kotsifari and Syrah grapes. Wine tasting and cellar tours
can be undertaken during the summer months.
Boutari
Skaláni, Iráklion
T
2810 731617,
W
boutari
.gr.
On the road towards the village of Myrtiá lies the
Fantaxometocho estate of the privately owned Boutari
vineyard. Specializing in organic production methods,
they make excellent wines.
Tours €5.
May-Oct daily
10am-4pm.
Dourakis
Alíkambos, Vrýsses, near Haniá
T
28250
51761.
On the main road, 4km from Vrýsses towards
Hóra Sfákion, this small, friendly family-owned winery
offers tasting and tours, and there's a small one-room
museum of old farming implements
. Tours €3.
May-
Oct Mon-Sat 10am-2pm & 4-6pm.
Minos Wines
Péza, Iráklion
T
2810 741213,
W
minoswines.gr.
Milliarakis is the estate of another
privately owned producer, Minos Wines. Tasting takes
place in their large wine-tasting room, which is
furnished as a traditional
kafenío
.
Tours €2.
May-Oct
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm.
Peza Union
Kalloní, Iráklion
T
2810 741945,
W
pezaunion.gr.
Beyond Péza village, 2km. The union
of agricultural cooperatives of Péza produces olive oil as
well as wine. A tour of their exhibition centre is
followed by wine tasting and a small meze.
Tours free.
May-Oct Mon-Sat 9am-5pm.
Sitia Co-operative
Géla, Sitía
T
28430 29991.
On the main road towards Áyios Nikólaos, 1km from
Sitía. The famous wines of Sitía OPAP are produced
here. Tours include a tasting in the cellar and an
audiovisual presentation.
Tours €2. Mon-Fri
9am-3pm.
7
however, is the third courtyard, in the middle of which are the remains of a
furnace
used for metalworking. Oddly enough, Phaestos was much less ornately decorated
than Knossos; there is no evidence, for example, of any of the dramatic Minoan
wall-paintings.
Ayía Triádha
Daily: May-Sept 10am-4pm; Oct-April 8.30am-3pm • €4, joint ticket with Phaestos €6
Some of the finest artworks in the museum at Iráklion came from
Ayía Triádha
, 4km
west of Phaestos. No one is quite sure what this site is, but the most common theory
has it as some kind of royal summer villa. It's smaller than the palaces but, if anything,
even more lavishly appointed and beautifully situated. In any event, it's an attractive
place to visit, far less crowded than Phaestos, with a wealth of interesting little details.
Look out in particular for the row of
stores
in front of what was apparently a
marketplace, and the remains of a
paved road
that probably led down to a harbour on
the Gulf of Messará. There's a fourteenth-century
chapel
- dedicated to Áyios Yeóryios
- at the site, worth visiting in its own right for the remains of ancient frescoes.
Míres
The large market town of
MÍRES
, 20km west of Gortys, serves as a transport hub for
buses further west and to the beaches of the south coast; if you're travelling to Mátala,
or west beyond Phaistos, then you'll normally switch buses here. here are good
facilities including a
bank
, a few
restaurants
, a couple of
rooms
places and a handy
internet
café,
Sirvitis
, right opposite the bus stop, though there's no particular reason to
stay unless you are waiting for a bus.
Mátala
MÁTALA
is best-known for its famous caves cut into the cliffs above beautiful sands.
These are ancient tombs first used by Romans or early Christians, but more recently
inhabited by a sizeable hippie community in the 1960s and 1970s (including some
famous names such as Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell). The caves have long since been
