Troupis Hoof & Lur Moschofilero
Pairs with: Grilled shrimp skewers dusted with sumac, a fragrant Thai green vegetable curry, a smoky plate of grilled octopus drizzled with lemon and capers, turmeric-spiced street food, or a classic Mediterranean mezze platter featuring salty feta, kalamata olives, and rich hummus.
Good for: Cracking open as the ultimate "gateway" bottle to the wild world of skin-contact orange wines; rescuing a complex takeout night with a white that can effortlessly anchor exotic spices; or introducing a wine geek to a radical, historical side of Greece they didn't know existed.
Grape: 100% Moschofilero.
I am from: PGI Arcadia, Mantinia, Peloponnese, Greece (Sourced from high-altitude estate plots climbing 640 to 660 meters above sea level on the chilly Mantinia Plateau).
The Story: While the Troupis Winery team is globally respected for bringing pristine execution to modern Greek winemaking, they are equally celebrated for having a wildly adventurous, rebellious streak. The family's agricultural roots stretch back to the 1970s, when they operated a traditional vine nursery and flower farm on the high-elevation Mantinia plateau. For decades, they sold their grapes to large regional producers while crafting a simple table wine for their own family meals. In 2010, sibling duo Yiannis and Panagiota Troupis, alongside winemaker Kostas Koutsoubos, officially built a modern facility to put a definitive spotlight on their native champion, Moschofilero.
While Moschofilero is technically classified as a white wine grape, it is actually a distinct pink-to-gray skinned variety. In 2016, the Troupis clan decided to ask a fascinating question: What did this wine look like centuries ago before industrial, crystal-clear filtration became the commercial norm? The answer was "Hoof & Lur," a mesmerizing skin-contact bottling that acts as a direct, liquid homage to the ancient, untamed folklore of Arcadia. The name itself invokes the mythical god Pan—the part-man, part-goat creature of the Arcadian wilderness who sported cloven hooves and lured travelers with his enchanting wind pipe (the lur). To capture this primitive mountain energy, the hand-harvested organic grapes are gently crushed and allowed to ferment spontaneously with wild, native yeasts in raw concrete containers, leaving the skins in contact with the juice to extract color, phenols, and structural weight. Bottled completely un-fined, unfiltered, and with minimal sulfur, it completely flips the script on conventional winemaking.
Why You'll Love Me: It is exotic, brilliantly texturized, and delightfully vibrant—an eye-catching orange-pink chameleon that effortlessly challenges the boundaries between white, rosé, and orange styles. In the glass, it pours a striking, iridescent copper-salmon hue with a soft, natural haze. The nose is a spectacularly expressive playground, exploding with a fragrant perfume of fresh rose petals, jasmine blossoms, and blood orange zest, layered with intriguing nuances of powdered sugar, lemongrass, and a pungent dusting of ginger and cardamom.
On the palate, it delivers a gorgeous structural ride; because of the extended skin maceration, it hits with a subtle, waxy mouthfeel and a light, pleasantly grippy frame of tea-like tannins. Yet, the chilly alpine air of the high plateau ensures it remains wonderfully refreshing—a racy beam of natural acidity and a tiny, playful whisper of natural effervescence keep the palate feeling athletic and alive, sailing into a long, bone-dry finish defined by a mouthwatering saline mineral crunch and a tart strawberry-rhubarb snap.
