Thomas Ligas was a forerunner in Greek natural winemaking. With 8 hectares in Pella, northern Greece, his vineyard management was inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka’s ‘One Straw Revolution’, a low intervention approach to land management, which emphasised a no-till approach to soil health.

In the winery, Thomas and his daughter Meli bring the same low intervention approach to the harvest grapes. Only free-run juice is used in the gravity fed winery; a maximum of oxygenation encourages a wild fermentation, and then nothing is added to the juice, not even sulphites. The wine remains in situ in tank and is only moved once – when it is bottled.

Roditis is an indigenous variety widely dismissed as dull and uprooted in northern Greece. Ligas saw potential in the grape when grown at lower yields, and this wine has richness and body, and bursts with flavour – preserved lemon, mandarin and a pronounced salinity.

2019; cork; 12.5% abv

No added sulphites