From ancient vineyards near the ruins of Nemea, to a patio overlooking a parking lot in suburban Dallas–such was the fated journey of this bottle of red wine. And I am so grateful it made the trip.
Palivou Estate’s flagship wine is a welcome discovery. Both fruit-forward and elegant, it’s a testament to what native grapes of Greece can achieve.
I ordered it at Selda Mediterranean Kitchen & Bar in Pepper Square on north Preston Road. It really is in the middle of a parking lot, surrounded by banks and medical offices. (I’m such a townie that I remember when this building housed Fish On Fire, a drive-thru Mexican-seafood joint whose local claim to fame was a $7 salmon burger combo. Before that, I think it was a Long John Silver’s.)
The location is unromantic, for sure. But it doesn’t matter. Selda is an “if-you-know-then-you-know” chef-driven Turkish restaurant. The food and service can compete with fancy Mediterranean places in any downtown I’ve ever visited. It also has the advantage of being open until 11 PM–vanishingly rare in Dallas once you get north of Belt Line.
But probably my favorite thing about Selda is the adventurous pan-Mediterranean and international wine list. I don’t know a lot about the region, and still I’ve never had a bad pour here. The dense, one-page menu is so well-chosen that I feel confident just pointing to a wine and going all-in on the bottle.
“I think we do have it–I’ll try to find it,” the waiter says, squinting apologetically at the wine list. A few minutes later he returns with the Palivou Estate ($66)–a single-vineyard, family-made, and organic Agiorgitiko of Nemea.
It pours a gem-like ruby color with a thin, transparent rim. Intense red-fruit aromas of cherry and pomegranate. Cinnamon, fenugreek, and crushed fennel seed give a distinctive spicy character, smoothed over by a hint of creamy vanilla.
The palate adds cocoa and a little blackberry to the red pomegranate and watermelon flavors. Moderately drying tannins again evoke cinnamon. It finishes dry and strong, with lingering candy-shop flavors of anise drops and cola. This is a moderate style of wine–medium body, medium tannins, and medium acidity–but it’s anything but shy about displaying its juicy freshness and intriguing spice notes.
It’s late on a Tuesday night and Selda is busy with locals–but the dining room is empty and absolutely everyone is on the patio. It’s probably one of the last cool nights in Texas before the summer heat takes over. There, amid the streetlights and the car alarms, we feast.
The menu is small plates and larger, share-able mains and salads. I order pan-fried Halloumi Cheese ($13) drizzled with pomegranate molasses, chargrilled Chicken Shish kebabs ($21) with buttered rice, Shepherd Salad ($12), and crumbly, syrup-drenched Baklava ($10). Fresh-baked lavash with labneh dip is on the house.
With each progressive dish, the wine shows its versatility–revealing palate-cleansing acidity, chocolate richness, and wood-bark spiciness in turns. This is the ideal mezze wine: One that plays nice with everything on your plate without the need for a pile of bread or a crowd of different wine glasses to see you through a varied meal.
The winery responsible for this balanced and expressive Greek red is Palivou Estate. Altitude, low-yielding soils, and relatively long maceration allow Agiorgitiko to develop to its fullest potential. The winemaker uses a trio of different French oak barrels to age and blend this particular wine: 30% new, 30% second-fill and 30% third-use. Twelve months in barrels is followed by an additional 6 months of bottle aging at the winery.
Bottle: Palivou Estate Single Vineyard Nemea (2021)
Variety: Agiorgitiko (100%)
ABV: 14.5%
Suggested retail: $25.99
My rating: 8.9 (out of 10)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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