Field notes № 02 · Crete, Greece

We came
for the wine.
Then lunch
arrived.

An afternoon at Fragospito

From Yanni & Denise

Our host carrying a homemade omelette and a bowl of garden salad to the table — The most unexpected part of the tasting.

Yanni, Denise and cousin George (Giorgos) beside the giant Fragospito bottle outside the winery — Yanni, Denise and our cousin George (Giorgos).

01 / The welcome

Harvest until 5:30.
Hosting us at 1 p.m.

We brought our cousin George (Giorgos) to taste the wines at Fragospito. We arrived at 1 p.m., in the middle of harvest. Nikos Gavalas and his daughter Christina had worked until 5:30 that morning. They were still awake, showing us around and pouring their wines. You notice that kind of welcome when hospitality is your work, too.

A winery host explaining the work beside stainless steel tanks — A tour in the middle of harvest.

Freshly harvested dark grapes and leaves in a crate — The reason for those early mornings.

Before the glass,
a very long morning.

02 / At the source

A wine we knew.
A welcome
we’ll remember.

We already pour Fragospito’s Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah blend at Yanni’s. Here, we got to share it with the people who make it.

The family planted their first vines in 1906 for their own wine, alongside olive trees for oil. The winery’s first vintage came in 2004. Fragospito is also certified organic and vegan.

Nikos and Yanni in the cellar holding a bottle from 2004, Fragospito’s first vintage — Nikos and Yanni with a bottle from 2004, Fragospito’s first vintage.

Yanni tasting red wine with a winery host at the table — The Fragospito blend, at its source.

A smiling guest with a glass of wine behind a bowl of watermelon — And then came the watermelon.

03 / One more thing

They still
wanted to
feed us.

An omelette made on the spot. A salad from their garden. Then watermelon. In the middle of their busiest season, they found time for all of it.

“It was a very special day.”Denise

A little Crete in Scripps Ranch

The bottle
comes home.

Ask for the Fragospito Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah next time you’re at Yanni’s. We’re hoping to bring Nikos and Christina over for a wine dinner, too. We’d like to return the hospitality.

See you at Yanni’s