Wine Country & Zaros — Crete's Green Heart

South of Heraklion stretches Crete's wine region — a mosaic of vineyards, olive groves, and mountain villages, belonging to the most exciting wine landscapes in Greece. The area around Archanes, Peza, and Dafnes produces excellent wines from indigenous grape varieties that grow nowhere else in the world: Vidiano (an elegant white wine), Kotsifali and Mandilari (robust reds), and Vilana (fresh white).

Several wineries offer tastings and tours — one of the best ways to experience Cretan culture away from the beaches:

• Boutari Winery (Skalani) — One of Crete's most renowned producers, modern architecture, excellent tours. Tasting from 8€.
• Lyrarakis (Alagni) — Family winery that has revived forgotten grape varieties. Try the Plyto and the Dafni!
• Douloufakis (Dafnes) — Award-winning Vidiano and excellent Kotsifali.
• Paterianakis (Melesses) — Small, family-run, excellent organic wine in a breathtaking location.

The mountain village of Zaros (Ζαρός, 340 m elevation) at the foot of the Psiloritis Mountains (Ida, 2,456 m — Crete's highest mountain) is the green heart of the island: spring water (Zaros mineral water is well-known throughout Greece), trout farming, walnut trees, and the spectacular Rouvas Gorge with its unique holm oak forest. From Zaros, hiking trails lead up to the Ida Cave (Ideon Andron), where according to mythology Zeus was raised — one of the holiest sites of the Minoan religion.

The Messara Plain south of the wine region is Crete's most fertile area: greenhouses, olive groves, and the archaeological sites of Phaistos (the second-largest Minoan palace, in a spectacular hilltop location — less reconstructed than Knossos, but more atmospheric) and Gortyn (Roman capital of Crete, with the famous law code from the 5th century BC, the oldest known European legal text).