WineInk: Demetria comes to Aspen

We are just a couple of weeks away from the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which will begin pouring wines and serving up fabulous food on Friday, June 20. As is the case every year, I am looking forward to making new friends and tasting new wines. Fortuitously, this past week, I was introduced to a winery from the Santa Ynez Valley in California, which will be making their debut at the Classic this year.

“We can’t wait to get to Aspen and introduce our wines to Colorado,” said Alexis Zahoudanis, proprietor of the family-owned and operated Demetria Estate Winery, with obvious enthusiasm. “Colorado has always been a great market for our wine society, and we would love to have a presence there. Food & Wine just felt like the right venue for us to pour our wines.”

My introduction to Alexis came in the form of a bottle of the Demetria Estate Cuvée Constantine this past weekend, which I paired with a grilled rack of St. Louis pork ribs and a selection of spring veggies. It was my first BBQ of the season, and the wine — a bold and peppery GSM (that would be a blend of 50% grenache, 30% Syrah, and 20% Mourvèdre) — was a perfect complement to the spicy food. I was eager to learn more about the wine and the producer.

Demetria Estate is a small winery located in the hills above Foxen Canyon Road in the Santa Ynez Valley, not far from the wine town of Los Olivos. If you know Foxen Winery, Zaca Mesa, or Fess Parker, then you know the neighborhood. It is celebrated for its rural beauty and as a solid source for Rhône-style wines.

While I have not visited Demetria, it turns out I had been on the property years before, as it was once the home of Andrew Murray Wines, one of the pioneering Rhône producers of the 1990s in the region. In January 2006, Alexis’s father, John Zahoudanis, a Southern California real estate developer, purchased the 213-acre property from the Murray family and created the Demetria brand, naming it after his daughter, Alexis’ sister. John, who was raised in Greece, had a lifelong dream realized as he always hoped to own a vineyard.

Working with then-winemaker Michael Roth and renowned biodynamic vineyard consultant Philippe Armenier, the family began to refashion the 45 planted acres using biodynamic principles. Originally espoused by Austrian intellectual Rudolf Steiner, biodynamic farming is built around a philosophy that embraces a holistic approach to the growing process, which works to tune the land to the rhythms of nature. The idea is that a vineyard should be its own living organism.

According to Demetria Estate’s positioning statement, “The team works in tandem with the cosmic rhythms of nature, minimizing outside inputs, enriching the soil with organic compost, planting cover crops to protect the topsoil and nourish the vines, and working in tune with the lunar cycle to enhance the vitality of each vine. Integral to this ecosystem, sheep move across the estate daily, mimicking natural grazing patterns that aerate the soil, providing natural fertilization, and eliminating the need for herbicides — an intricate, self-sustaining system that strengthens the land rather than depleting it.”

Biodynamic farming requires a commitment, and the difference affects both the land and the wines.

“We want our wines to reflect the land, free from unnecessary chemicals and interventions,” Alexis said.

Today, director of winemaking and viticulture Ryan Roark, a Texan by birth, and winemaker Emily Myers oversee the production of a dozen varieties of grapes ranging from Rhône reds and Rhône whites to smaller blocks of sangiovese and tempranillo, and, as an homage to their family patriarch John, who passed away in 2020, a block of assyrtiko, a Greek white grape.

Demetria produces four, single-variety red wines grown on the Demetria estate: a pair of Syrah wines, the Agno, which is 100% mourvèdre, and a 100% grenache wine called O Dromos, which is Greek for “the journey.” The same selection of grapes is used in two red blends, the Pantheon and the aforementioned Cuvée Constantine. In addition to a portfolio of estate-grown white wines, Demetria also sources fruit from other Central Coast vineyards to produce pinot noir, chardonnay, and sauvignon blanc.

Alexis and his partner Christine Worden will be in attendance at the Classic, manning their table and pouring Demetria wines in the Grand Tasting tent.

“I know it will be warm, so I thought we would pour wines that work well in the summertime,” he explained about the wines he will be bringing.

They include two estate-grown wines: the 2023 Demetria Sparkling Rosé made from 100% grenache grapes produced using the méthode champenoise, and a 2023 Viognier. And they will also be offering the Cuvée Sandra Pinot Noir, sourced exclusively from the famed Rancho La Viña vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation of Santa Barbara County. This special bottling is named to honor Alexis’ mother.

“Hospitality is our thing,” he said. “We just hope people love the wines in Aspen and want to come out to the winery, sit on the patio, drink some wine, and take in the gorgeous views. People drive up the road and think they are in Tuscany.”

Sounds good to me.