The Limniona Grape

Limniona is an ancient red-wine grape originating in Thessaly, in eastern-central Greece. Despite long-standing confusion, it is not the same grape as Limnio, as modern DNA analysis has shown, nor even closely related; nonetheless, most available discussions and reviews fail to distinguish the two (Wikipedia redirects Limniona to their Limnio page, which does not even mention Limniona; Wine Searcher has no separate page for it). As with so many grapes in recent years, it was saved from disappearance almost entirely by the efforts of a single dedicated winemaker, in this case Christos Zafirakis of the eponymous winery.

Limniona (which may go back 3,000 or more years) makes wines dark in color, of medium body (some say “delicate”), quite acid but well balanced by complex dark red-fruit flavors and aromas, with minerality behind them, and with plenty of tannins—but soft tannins—so that the wine may be drunk young but will well reward substantial aging, a decade or more. In short, they are full of interest without being overpowering, which is A Good Thing.

Factoid: The start of Limniona’s revival is scarcely over a decade past (Zafeirakis’s first vintage of it was 2008).

Some Descriptions of Limniona Wines

Wines of Greece
“Lemniona (Limniona) wine has an extremely deep and vivid purple red colour. On the nose it is rich, very expressive, with red fruit, herbs, minerality and cooking spices. The palate has a great line, with a firm, textured but never aggressive tannin frame. Alcohol can be relatively high, although rarely above 13.5%, but it is always very balanced by the bright acidity…Lemniona (Limniona) is one of these rare red varieties that manage to pack extract, concentration, acidity and flavour, without leaning towards fatness and volume. It is for people looking for the next generation of ambitious, yet graceful reds…Most commercially available examples are ready to drink but will benefit for at least a few years of bottle age, while they will reach their peak in a decade or even more.”
Dynamic Vines
“Limniona is now considered a rising star of Greek red grapes, and its potential was only truly recognised when it was on the cusp of total extinction. These large purple-black grapes have thick skins and ripen late in their already long growing season. They thrive in climates of hot summers and cold winters. The resulting wines have deep colour, medium body and a good fragrance, with spicy, mineral and black fruit notes. The tannins offer structure, but do not overpower, and the relatively high alcohol content is tempered by a strong level of acidity. They also age well, potentially for several decades.”
Greece and Grapes
“A hard to find red variety, mainly cultivated in Thessaly in the areas of Karditsa and Tyrnavos. It gives special, delicate, red wines, with dark red fruit aromas on the nose, but also characters of minerals, spices and herbs. It has a rich tannic content, which gives nerve and personality, but not aggressivnes or richness. Has strong acidity and high alcohol. It is from the wines that age well and it is a promising variety. Typical wine characteristics: Aromatic, asteringent, nervous.”
Yiannis Karakasis, MW
“I personally find it as one of the most intriguing and upcoming Greek varieties producing wines with intense aromas that can be herbal and floral with a solid core of red fruit such as cherry and strawberry…we are at the beginning of the Limniona journey since just a handful of single varietal examples exist at the moment.”
Konstantinos Lazarakis, The Wines of Greece
“Limniona might be Greece’s equivalent of the Spanish variety Mencia. Both varieties have a great grace, combined with undeniable power. Both can charm the uninitiated consumer and convince the sophisticated wine lover…In most cases, the single varietal Limniona wines are very different [from each other], possibly reflecting the winemaker rather then the grape. If there is a common theme, it is the tannin structure, being dense but fine-grained and elegant.”

Some Limnionas to Try

All Limniona wines we could find available are outside our arbitrary upper price limit of $20, plus most are quite scarce in the U.S. retail market. We thus, with this warning note, present all of those few we found—but, again, these wines are all priced over $20—often into the mid $30s.

(And, of course, there is no “splurge” listing because these are all in the “splurge” price range.)

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This page was last modified on Saturday, 30 October 2021, at 11:26 pm Pacific Time.

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