Day 26 – Dame Rouge IV
Dame Rouge has always been about pushing Merlot past its comfort zone. Day 26 takes it further. A portion of the grapes went through appassimento — dried after harvest to intensify everything they hold. The rest were vinified fresh, striking a balance between raw fruit and concentrated depth.
The blend is 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, aged twelve months in barriques. The result is a dense, ruby-colored red with volume and tension: velvet tannins, live-wire acidity, and layers that move from cherries and plums to chocolate, espresso, leather, and mint.
This is not a red that hides. It’s limited, unapologetic, and built to last. Dame Rouge IV shows that Epirus can borrow a technique born in Italy, make it its own, and bottle something that doesn’t imitate — it declares.
| Vintage | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Type | Dry Red |
| Unit Size | 75cl |
| Country | Greece |
| Region | Epirus |
| Varieties | Merlot 90%, Cabernet Franc 10% |
| Fermentation | Fresh and appassimento grapes were used. |
| Aging | The wine matured in barriques for twelve months . |
| Alcohol | 14.6% |
| Cork / Screw Cap | Cork |
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Ratings & Reviews
Gold Medal & Special Distinction - Best Assyrtiko of the show
Bronze medal - 2019 Vintage
91/100
(2018) An Assyrtiko not from Santorini, but from a new venture in Halkidiki in the north of the mainland, a cool region where the grapes are picked considerably later. There's a lovely waxy citrus and almost figgy character here, in a very aromatic and quite intriguing wine, somethig like blood orange, maybe even a hint mango in the background. On the palate lovely drive and focus: salty minerals for sure, pithy lemon and zesty, tangy grapefruit, but that lighter, stony and fine earthy quality shines through into a long, citrus finish.
The producer
Forget the usual suspects. Jima is proof that serious Greek wine doesn’t need a postcard address. Panos Tzimas runs the show — DipWSET, chemist, teacher, and the kind of guy who prunes his vines by hand and still has energy to experiment in the cellar… Read more
