Lyrarakis Winery

Lyrarakis Winery

Lyrarakis Winery
5
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
10:30 AM - 7:00 PM
About
The Lyrarakis Estate is a family winery which has been producing high quality wines since 1966 with a strong focus on rare local varieties and producing single variety wines. Surrounded by the idyllic setting of the vineyards and the Lassithi mountains we offer you the opportunity to enjoy nature and discover local varieties abd wines distinguished by the uniqueness of their origin and heritage.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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  • htravel527
    Aberdeen, United Kingdom14 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Interesting tour and great staff!
    It was such a cute place and the host George was really friendly and clearly passionate about the business. We were the only ones there too as it was off season but we were given five star service, including delicious food and wine. Unfortunately we couldn't tour the vineyard itself because it was 'blowing a hoolie' but controlling the weather is a bit beyond the power of the winery staff! He even called us a taxi back. We had a fantastic time!
    Visited February 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written March 3, 2024
  • Luciana R
    Singapore, Singapore10 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth a visit mostly for white wine lovers!
    Very nice visit and booking process. We have booked all online including food to enjoy with the wine and a car service so we could enjoy the wine experience with no restrictions. The winery is in a beautiful location and well taken care of and we could enjoy the outside sitting looking at the vineyards. Food was very good and Yorgos was a great host, explaining about the wines and leaving as comfortable to enjoy the overall experience.
    Visited April 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written April 12, 2024
  • Dream12226422545
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Knowledgeable, tasty, enjoyable wine experience!
    We enjoyed a wonderful 7 tasting experience. We sat outside on a Sunday morning. We were the first tasting of the day and the property was quite. We enjoyed walking around with a glass of our choice and enjoying the calm morning and beautiful views!
    Visited April 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written April 17, 2024
  • Laurieandrews
    Denver, Colorado10 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Wonderful experience In beautiful Cretan wine country!
    Wonderful experience! We were greeted with a welcome drink, followed by a tour of the vineyard. Our host was wonderful and explained a lot about the winery and the wine making process. We had a delicious picnic lunch in the winery itself under some trees. We sampled three (generous pours) of wines and then had another dessert wine pairing afterwards. Absolutely lovely day! Highly recommend :)
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 6, 2024
  • David AB
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Stunning views, great wine
    We did the 7-wine tasting, and ordered several dishes, along with a short tour. The tour by George amongst the vines discussing sustainable farming differs from many of the standard “here are some stainless steel tank” tours you get in Crete. The wine was delicious and we left with a few bottles to take on our trip. They have several revived grapes that all stood out. Food was pretty good, and service was excellent. If visiting Heraklion and looking for a winery, I’d come back here.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 7, 2024
  • Tamara M
    Bavaria, Germany9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Very nice
    We chose the picnic, which was a great decision! We learned a lot, ate a lot and our dogs were no problem either. Absolutely nice people and really great food. The winery also has a beautiful property
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written May 10, 2024
  • louq
    Cambridge, United Kingdom27 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lucky enough to taste wine from grapes picked less than 50m from where you sit!
    A wonderful environment, delicious wines and accompanying food, as well as an incredible view. The tasting and tour were relaxed and informal, but perfectly informative. Very friendly and helpful staff, would highly recommend!
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 13, 2024
  • Christina F
    19 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great people, great wine, great service! With a view to top it off!
    The people at this winery were very knowledgeable about the wines and cultivation practices. They spoke great English and answered all our questions. The tasting came with some bread, olives, olive tapenade, and their own homemade olive oil. The tasting room was outside under a pergola with a view of the vineyards and the mountains.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written May 23, 2024
  • Jennagrace21
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Would definitely recommend
    The views were absolutely incredible. Our guide was very knowledgeable and made our experience great. We loved the food that came in our picnic basket. We bought 8 bottles of wine because we loved it so much, our favorite was Dafni! Would recommend.
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 30, 2024
  • Passport14082894077
    Handforth, United Kingdom5 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great wine tasting experience
    What a beautiful setting for a vineyard tour and tasting. We had the premium wine tasting after we completed the tour. We also had a selection of cheeses, meats, Greek foods, olives etc while we sampled the wine. All were excellent. Our host explained about each variety of the 7 we tasted. We also had a driver and child who were given 4 different grape alcohol free options to taste - neither felt left out of the experience! Some really unique Greek single variety wines which were good enough to encourage us to purchase them! Thanks for a lovely visit!
    Visited May 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written May 31, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Jacob S
Columbia, MD4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Couples
Lyrarakis Winery is in the gorgeous interior of Crete, best traveled to via car. The winery itself is gorgeous, with the tasting room overlooking the actual vineyards with mountains in the distance.

There are a few different tasting options but I recommend the “Single Area Wine Tasting”, which is a series of 7 single-vineyard wines for 25.00€ per person. The price is incredibly reasonable, and you will get to taste a wide variety of what Lyrarakis has to offer. A number of their grapes were on the brink of extinction before Lyrarakis invested in reviving them, so you can taste some truly rare things here!

Personally, my favorite was their Dafni (greek for “laurel” as it has a pronounced herbal note) bottling, but their whole range is delicious.

You can also pre-order food if you do the “customize your wine tasting” and the food options are delicious and super reasonable in price. I’d say get the dakos for sure!

We had the pleasure of getting to geek out with one of the owners, Manolis, who was happy to help us pick up some older bottles with some age on them. Again the Dafni shone bright and I look forward to pairing it with some spiced crab cakes!

Manolis, and the whole team, were incredibly warm and welcoming, making the experience a highlight of our honeymoon in Crete. Check them out and support an awesome family-run winery!
Written August 3, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

eatdrinkstay
Bournemouth, UK898 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2024 • Couples
After reading the great reviews we booked the picnic experience on the vineyards own site.
Gave us the option to add travel , a link was immediately sent.
We paid for the travel directly on the return trip.
We received a warm
Welcome and joined a few others for the guided tour which was very interesting.
We then left the group to experience the picnic and wine tasting under the olive trees.
All of the wines were amazing and enjoyed wine on arrival then with the picnic a white a Rosa a Red and a delicious sparkling wine.
We were guided through all the wines and the delicious food but also left to enjoy the experience.
This was a wonderful experience and worth the money.
Thank you
Written September 14, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jane S
Durham, UK74 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Friends
We had some friends holidaying with us and wanted to show them different aspects of the island , this winery was recommended to me and we booked up for the 7 wines tasting and also preordered some food to accompany.
Started with a little tour and a small educational on the vines , very interesting and also some knowledge on olive oil.
The views whilst tasting your wines are stunning , it’s a lovely tranquil place , we had a lovely lady called Marina look after us and talk us through our wines .
The quality of the food was amazing , fabulous flavours and presentation was excellent.
We had one non drinker who drank grape juice and for the four of us with food our bill was €100 , not bad value for 7 wines and food .
We spent just over 3 hours and we where not rushed to move along for the next arrivals .
Very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
Written October 14, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

RMC
Inverness, UK10 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Couples
We visited here in June 2024, having booked the single area wine tasting including transfer.

The Lyrarakis Winery website states "A guided tour in the vineyards, cellar and vine museum is included" in the tasting, and the tour was our main reason for visiting as we were hoping to get an introduction to Cretan wine and vinyards.

On arrival, we were met by a staff member and told that we could walk around the cellar, restaurant and grounds. The winery is quite small and this took us about ten minutes to read the various information boards in the the single room that comprises the cellar and restaurant. During our wandering, it was clear that the staff were having a tasting session themselves and had been for some time. There was no attempt to approach us, take us on a tour or describe anything we were looking at and the atmosphere made me reluctant to push the matter. It felt like we had walked into a pub just before closing and the staff were having a lock-in (it was early afternoon on a Wednesday).

After about twenty minutes, we were shown to a table and had a tasting. This was pleasant with the sommelier demonstrating her knowledge in very good english. After our tasting, we took a (self-guided) walk around the vinyard, bought some wine and awaited our transfer.

I recommend the wine but I can't recommend a visit, given our experience. We felt misled having not received any kind of tour and the atmosphere wasn't welcoming at all. Made more irritating as we were the only customers in the place.
Written June 23, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

George C
Iasi, Romania13 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2024 • Couples
Lyrarakis is one of the wineries that should be considered a “must” when planning a Cretan tour focused on studying local oenology. The viticulture and winemaking activity spans six generations, with the winery being one of the promoters and “restorers” of the Plyto and Dafni grape varieties, native to Crete.

The two wines, part of the flight of 7 that I tasted, were associated with the Plyto and Dafni varieties from the “Psarades” vineyard, but I’m convinced I haven’t exhausted the full potential of the treasures housed in the cellar.

Additional appreciation goes to the customer service at the winery reception, which facilitated—upon a simple request—the tasting of wines (throughout my entire Cretan stay) in a Riedel glass and even offered me a special gift (2005, 🤠) when I completed my list of purchases and they found out that I am deepening my studies in this vast field of oenology.

I recommend that before visiting the winery, you make sure you taste the wine samples accompanied by a gastronomic base, and if you want to deepen the study of any sample, expressly request a 50–60 mL sample.

I will definitely purchase around 5 varieties from the winery’s portfolio for home delivery (the delivery fee for 20 bottles within the EU is 62 EUR).
Written September 15, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Raffaello_FR
43 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2024 • Couples
We had the picnic with wine tasting. Even the journey through the wonderful landscape was a pleasure. The winery is located directly in the vineyards and is attractively designed with pretty gardens. We received a friendly welcome. There was a wine to welcome, then there was a short walk through the vineyard and the wine cellar with all sorts of interesting facts about the production of the wines at Lyrarakis. We particularly liked the fact that we work without pesticides and artificial fertilizers. Our guide had a lot of knowledge about the wines and the winery. Afterwards we could enjoy our picnic in a wonderful arbor in the vineyard under olive trees - now in October we had a nice sunset for free. We were allowed to taste another 4 wines and received further information about each of them. The picnic consisted of Cretan specialities, which were matched to the wines. The food was first class and chosen and prepared with love. For two people it was more than plentiful. We couldn't have asked for a nicer experience!
We can recommend the wine tasting 100%. (If you are coming later in October, you should definitely have a jacket with you! )
Automatically translated
Written October 29, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sams_Family2014
Brisbane, Australia70 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Family
Warmly welcomed into this lovely winery. Quick tour, interesting and unique. Followed by wine tasting a lunch (pre booked)

The team do a very good job of keeping the food and wine flowing amongst the number of guests. Very attentive and genuinely friendly.

They were very accommodating of people who arrived late or without bookings.

Reasonably priced wine to purchase post experience.

Stunning views and a lovely place in general to just meander.
Written September 23, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Eonas
Charlestown, RI4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022 • Solo
I was very disappointed, I arranged ahead of time and as I was carless it took some doing . The setting was beautiful it was a beautiful day and my trip there involved a bus and a beautiful walk (about 90 min total travel) George the “tasting guide” was distracted and completely uninterested. There was 1 couple there when I arrived they had finished their tasting but it seemed that George also ignored them . He poured the wines recited a short paragraph and left I tried to engage him in discussion about the vineyard itself but: nothing and would just disappear we were only about half way through when he wanted to call for my taxi although I was in no rush. total visit time maybe 20 min. I did notice that 2 Greek women came as I was finishing and he spent a long time talking w them before even pouring. I have never felt so unwelcomed as a paying (18 euro for 7 tastes) tourist.I have done tastings around the world.His English was perfect so I do not think it was a language barrier.The wines were “ok” although the whites were not chilled adequately. There are other vineyards to choose from.
Written November 17, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ScoopLou
London, UK59 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Friends
Really enjoyable visit. Had a talk first about the winery and grapes grown which lasts about 20 minutes.
We booked the 7 premium wine tasting and ordered a cheese and charcuterie board with dips and bread.

We also used the taxi service recommended by the vineyard to collect/return us to our hotel in Hersonissos.
Really efficient service.

Would throughly recommend.
Written September 9, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Antonella M
Bologna, Italy29 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2024 • Couples
I highly recommend the wine tasting (we tried the 7) and the tour of the vineyard (in the barrel you just pop).
The products are interesting and worthy of attention, especially the Dafni (vintage 2023).
Costs are contained.
The value for money is truly exceptional, as exceptional is all the young and knowledgeable staff.
Automatically translated
Written August 6, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Lyrarakis Winery - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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