I chatted with Yiannis Karakasis MW on InstagramLive during the lockdown as to the current and future states of Greek wine. When the conversation turned to Assyrtko, he stated thusly:
There are over 2000 ha of Assyrtiko vines planted nationwide, with 40 - 45% of those plantings in Santorini. If you have a scale with minerality on one side, and fruit on the other, Santorini comes down hard on the minerality side with high minerality, saltiness, and evaporating smoke. If you go to mainland Greece, the Assyrtiko is broader, with more fruit. In the islands, the Assyrtiko is balanced between fruit and acidity.
The Assyrtiko tasting organized by Cinque Wine Bar would allow us to test this hypothesis as two of the wines were from Santorini while the third was from mainland Greece. Below I provide a brief description of each of the estates.
The Producers
Domaine Hatzimichalis
This estate was founded when Dimitris Hatzimichalis purchased land in the Atalanti Valley (Central Greece) in 1973, an area which had, hitherto, been "home to a tradition of small-scale viticulture." Grapegrowing in the region is advantaged due to its location "between the cool breezes of Mount Parnassus and the Euboean Gulf of the Aegean Sea."
The estate is spread over 220 ha planted to a total of 25 varieties. The Assyrtiko vines are from a 4-ha vineyard named Alepotrypa, the soil of which is clay loam with hints of limestone and sand. Fifty percent of the vines are newly planted - 5 years ago -- while the remaining 50% were grafted onto 20 - 25-year-old rootstock originally utilized by Chardonnay scions.
All of the work in the vineyard is done by hand, inclusive of harvesting. The grapes are vinified in stainless steel tanks after which they spend six months aging on the lees.
The estate was represented at the tasting by Leonidas Hatzimichalis.
Gaia Winery
This is a very important estate in the context of Greek wine history. According to Yiannis Karakassis, along with Alpha Estate, Domaine Geravassilou, Ktima Kir Yianni, Ktima Pavlidis, Boutari, and Sigalas, Gaia sits firmly in the first wave of producers that established the foundations of Greek wine.
Gaia produces wine both in Santorini (PDO Santorini) and Nemea (PDO Nemea - PGI Peleponnese). The grapes and wine for this tasting were sourced from Santorini. I have previously detailed the Santorini environment but will summarize it here as presented on the Gaia website:
- Volcanic, nutrient-poor porous soil that is phylloxera-free
- Long hours of sunshine
- Paucity of rainfall
- Sea mist and strong winds during the summer
- Humidity retained by the soil for plant use
- Basket-training system for the indigenous Assyrtiko vines
- Protection from warm winds and intense sunlight in the summertime.
The climate on Santorini is Mediterranean -- which is generally favorable for grape-growing -- but vintage quality on Santorini is determined by: rainfall intensity; absence or presence of heat waves in June and early July; and the nighttime humidity in the July-August period.
The Gaia Santorini vineyard is planted with 70 - 80-year-old, own-rooted vines which yield about 3000 kg/ha. No irrigation is allowed on the island.
The grapes for the Gaia Wild Ferment are carefully selected from the Pyrgos vineyard. The grapes are subjected to a 12-hour cold soak before being placed in 1000L stainless steel tanks and new French, American, and Acacia barriques for wild-yeast fermentation. The wines are stirred on the lees every second day.
We were led in the tasting of the Gaia wine by Giannis Paraskevopoulos. He is the co-owner of the estate and its Oenologist in addition to being a Professor at the University of Oenology in Athens.
Avantis Santorini Winery
The Avantis Santorini estate was launched in 2012 by winemaker Apostolos Mountrichas. The estate is located at 200 m elevation on volcanic soil. The estate owns 1.5 ha of land and purchases grapes to meet its overall needs. Yields are at 13.75 hl/ha.
Grapes for the Afoura wine are harvested and then cold-soaked for 24 hours prior to pressing in a vertical hydraulic basket press. The juice is then funneled into stainless steel tanks where it is fermented using indigenous yeasts. Post-fermentation the wine is transferred to 1000L oak barrels for aging. The wine spends 12 months on the lees with batonnage every 15 days. The wine is filtered prior to bottling.
We were led in the tasting by Nikitas Prassas of Cinque Wine Bar. On hand was the Oenologist Kotseridas George who is a Professor of Oenologie at the University of Agriculture, Athens, and also serves as a Consultant to Avantis Winery.
Tasting the Wines
The first wine tasted was the 2019 Hatzimichalis Assyrtiko Atalanti Valley. Leonidas predicted that this wine would show fruit aromas plus the Assyrtiko character. For me it was very aromatic. Lime and salinity on the nose with those two characteristics carrying through to the palate, along with a mineral character, acidity, and a lengthy finish. It would end up exhibiting a little more heft than was the case for the Gaia.
The Gaia 2019 Assyrtiko Wild Ferment showed minerality, a marine character, salinity and mint on the nose. A skin-contact texture on the palate along with citrus skin, salinity, minerality, and bright acidity. Minerality dominant.
I tasted the 2011 edition of this wine back in 2012 and had noted smoke, dill, baking spices, and burnt citrus on the nose, Searing acidity. Saline and some oak tannins. The most floral of the wines in the flight, A slight vegetal note. Spicy.
Avantis Santorini Winery 2018 Afoura -- A fino note on the nose along with oiliness and barrel notes. Slightly honeyed. Wooden notes flow through to the palate. I am not a big fan of wooded Santorini Assyrtikos.
Observations and Comparisons
The tasting provided three different characters for us to analyze in that even though the latter two wines were from Santorini, the Afoura was aged in wood.
Assyrtiko is clearly one of the leading white grape varieties in the world. In a 2012 tasting in New York City organized and hosted by Wines of Santorini, Jordan Mackay, the panel leader, stated that he found the wines from Santorini striking and "... one of the most singular and distinctive wines in the world." Yiannis Karakasis MW says that "Santorini always works because they produce great wine" and he views Assyrtiko as a starting point for anyone looking to begin an exploration of Greek wine.
I traveled through North Greece back in 2015 and tasted a few Assyrtikos there. My observations at the time were as follows:
The Assyrtikos encountered in North Greece were fruitier and had less mineral and acidity characteristics than their Santorini counterparts. I think that this variety, under the proper conditions, and with the proper winemaking, can be a winner for the region. I tasted tank- and barrel fermented samples at Wine Art Estate and found the former to have complex tropical notes, riper fruit, and less minerality than the wines of Santorini while the latter had toast notes and a harmonic combination of fruit and oak. I was more tolerant of oak in the North Greece Assyrtiko than I am with it in a Santorini Assyrtiko.
In Closing
I would like to once again express my sincerest thanks to the team at Cinque Wine Bar for putting this long-distance event together. I enjoyed it immensely and found it educational to boot. I would also like to thank all of the winery representatives for taking the time to share your knowledge and your wines with us. And, finally, I would like to thank the winelover community for fostering the kind of environment wherein members so selflessly undertake activities which redound to the benefit of members beyond themselves.
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