The Land
The Peloponnese looks hot on a map, but the Mantinia (often spelled Mantineia) plateau in Arcadia is one of the coolest corners of Greek viticulture. The vineyards sit on a high, flat basin ringed by mountains, roughly 650 meters up, where winters are cold, spring frost is a real threat, and Moschofilero hangs into autumn under chilly nights that hold onto acidity and perfume. Mantinia white wine is built on Moschofilero, a pink-skinned grape that gives aromatic, low-alcohol whites with a cutting edge when grown this high. Holy Mania comes from the Troupis family's own low-yielding vineyards at Fteri, 640 meters above sea level. The altitude is the whole story here: it turns a grape that could be merely floral into a white with tension and length.
The Wine
Troupis Holy Mania 2023 is 100% Moschofilero, bottled as PDO Mantinia, and what sets it apart in the Troupis range is method. The grapes ferment wild, on native yeasts, with minimal additions, and the wine matures in concrete rather than wood, with a short stay on its lees before an unfiltered bottling. Concrete keeps the aromatics clean while the lees give the texture more weight than the family's Fteri Moschofilero. Expect white peach, citron, orange zest, lemon blossom, white rose and a touch of bergamot, then a medium body with crisp, lemony acidity and a jasmine-scented finish. The winery says it holds its character for at least three years. Nationally, 2023 produced Greece's smallest wine harvest on record.
The People
Troupis is a young winery with old roots. The family has grown Moschofilero at Fteri since the 1970s, making house wine and selling surplus grapes to other producers. Tasos Troupis pushed to build a proper winery, and it opened in 2010, in the teeth of the Greek economic crisis; he died in 2020. Today his daughter Panagiota and son Yiannis, an agronomist who runs the vineyards, own the estate, and Panagiota's husband, Kostas Koutsoumpos, makes the wine. A former physical education teacher, Kostas works without inherited rules: ceramic vessels, concrete, oak and acacia barrels, long skin contact and wild ferments. Their son Thodoris is studying enology and training abroad before returning home. Holy Mania is where that curiosity meets the classic Mantinia white.
Food Pairing
The winery suggests lemon, shellfish and oily fish, and it is right. Grill whole sardines or mackerel, finish them with lemon, olive oil and parsley, and let the acidity cut through the oil. Pork souvlaki marinated in lemon, garlic and oregano, with warm pita and tzatziki, works because the wine's citrus mirrors the marinade while the floral side lifts the char. Steam mussels with white wine, tomato and crumbled feta for a quick saganaki; the briny feta and the wine's crisp edge meet in the middle. A dill-heavy spanakopita rounds out the table. This is the white for the night you want something more interesting than Pinot Grigio and still need dinner on the table by seven.
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