The amazing chef Petrof gets inspired by Kudos Grenache Rouge from Dourakis Winery

How does it feel when an artist creates a work of art only for you? Inspired by something of your
own? Do you feel special? Proud? Excited? We for sure felt it all when chef Petrof created a
recipe, especially for our Kudos Grenache Rouge!

On a sunny Saturday morning, we grabbed two bottles of our favorite Dourakis Grenache Rouge and went out on a field trip: to meet the extremely creative chef Iosif Petrof in his natural environment. A professional kitchen.

For those of you who do not know him, Chef Iosif Petrof is a passionate advocate of culinary art.

His studies in the Paul Bocuse Institute in France together with his experience in working with Michelin awarded chefs and restaurants in Lyon and London combined with his unsatisfying thirst for creation, make him one of the most important chefs in Crete. But what really makes him stand out are two things: his vibrant personality and his love for sharing his knowledge and art.
And this is exactly what he did for us: inspired by our aromatic Dourakis Kudos Grenache Rouge he created a small miraculous piece of art to satisfy both the eye and the tongue! We were lucky enough to be able to watch in awe while he was creating his dish and to listen to his procedure.

“I had many thoughts about Dourakis Grenache Rouge and how to pair it. Yet many times, the
ideal procedure is to go back to the basics. One of the most important basic ideas in the French
culture is the combination of bread, cheese and wine: the elegant trio of culinary pleasure.”-he said.

The ingredients served the basics concept perfectly: Bread dough, yellow cheese & cream cheese
filling, herbs, semi-sun-dried tomatoes, and a sauce based on red grapes and balsamic vinegar.

With the bread dough, he created a cannelloni, which he filled with the cheese creme and then
sprinkled herbs and sun-dried tomato powder on. The cannelloni was placed in the sauce et voilà!
There we had a little painting!

Now it was about time to pop open our bottle of Dourakis wine! Grenache Rouge is a classic
Mediterranean rosé variety with luminous colour and complex red fruit aromas. The Grenache Rouge of Dourakis winery with its full body, rich flavour and long aftertaste made quite an
impression. Its name did too. Did you know that Kudos is an ancient Greek word for magical glory? The word was first met in Aristophanes’ work and then was later introduced into the
English language meaning high acclaim or praise of exceptional achievement. Is there a better name for this wine?

The taste just blew my mind. How can something so simple as bread, cheese and wine, produce such an explosive combination?

The saltiness of the cheese filling, the acidity and sweetness from the sauce, all gracefully hugged by the Kudos Grenache Rouge aromatic essence. All I  needed was just a bite and a sip and there I was, enjoying a complete fine-dining experience! It  wasn’t until then that I understood the phrase Iosif shared with us, by his teacher and great chef  Paul Bocuse: everyone eats, but only a few know what they eat. 

We certainly love learning about what we eat and what we drink and this has become part of the  experience! 

Thank you for the lovely day chef Petrof!