Tag Archives: Aidani

Four producers showcase Santorini’s best

Master Sommelier and WineAlign critic John Szabo presents Wines of Santorini

I have not made a volcanic pilgrimage to Greece in some time and so happy times abound when the basaltic magma terroir of Santorini comes to town. A George Restaurant welcome to four archetypal producers stamped a guarantee for a great tasting day back in May, first and foremost through a masterful masterclass as an in depth look at PDO Santorini. This was followed by a meet and greet with more of that volcanic island’s wines, their collective bar raised by Chef Lorenzo Loreto’s always creative snacks. All the thank-yous go out to Sofia Perpera of Wines of Greece, my colleague John Szabo M.S., the importing agents here in Ontario and of course the visiting producers. There were 11 PDO Santorini wines poured for the class and these are my notes.

Santo Wines Assyrtiko Organic 2022

Should likely be immovable when this young in an assyrtiko prominently phenolic as it is defined by its dry extract. The vines are 60-80 years old from Pyrgos, Eco Gonia, Faros Akrotiriou and Imerovigli. Alcohol generous but not exaggerated at 13.2 while both acidity (6.1 g/L) and pH (2.91) are on the low end of the assyrtiko spectrum. Solid and exemplary cooperative wine, representative of 50 per cent of the entire production of the island. As much a matter of tang as it is volcanic originated salinity. In the end this is preparing for readiness to drink well ahead of most of the island’s varietal wines. Drink 2023-2025.  Tasted April 2023

Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko 2022

Vines are 60-plus years of age and the assyrtiko juice ages three months in only stainless steel with “occasional” bâtonnage. Alcohol is a reflection of a prolific vintage and acidity is on the low side while conversely pH sits higher, above three. Makes for a sapid assyrtiko which of course can also be salty but this is surely more a matter of texture by a wine that wholly, fully and completely covers the entirety of the palate. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Gaia Wines Thalassitis 2022

Seventy to 80 year-old vines, stratospheric acidity and bold alcohol make for a dichotomous assyrtiko that also expresses clean, grapefruit and white peppery reduction. Strictly stainless steel aged accompanied by necessary lees addendum and this was handled so properly to ride the new wave stylistic. The mouthfeel is extraordinary, the wine is predicated on texture, just now getting ready to roll but also capable of aging well. Drink 2023-2027.  Tasted May 2023

Argyros Estate Assyrtiko 2021

The Estate by Argyros, largest of the private producers on Santorini is the most generous and substantial of them all. Everything is elevated in this gregarious wine coming from 100-120 year-old untrained bush vines. Big alcohol towards 14 and a half percent, leading towards high acidity but also grander of pH. These are not white wines subjected to vintage variation so this is indeed the norm for assyrtiko and Santorini. This is quite honestly the centre of the Santorini universe and no other wine represents with more estate esteem than this teachable one. Drink 2024-2029.  Tasted May 2023

Argyros Estate Cuvée Monsignori 2020

Do not adjust your set but yes this is assyrtiko from 200-plus year-old vines growing in the central-south area of Episkopi. Specs are actually quite similar to the Estate but the dry extract level is just about 25 which is extraordinary for white wines anywhere. Longer lees aging of 11 months between harvest is necessary to keep up with the concentration and intensity of this unicorn assyrtiko. Salinity and volcanic interpretation are off the charts. Easily one of the top white values on the planet. Drink 2025-2034.  Tasted May 2023

Gaia Assyrtiko Wild Ferment 2021

Assyrtiko through and through, vines 70-80 years of age with three century root systems. Big, high acid and also relatively elevated with pH above three. Wild ferment and wood three ways; French, Acacia and American, all 225 size barriques. Flinty, barrel effected now but enough subtlety to tell us that integration will be done and without complication. This assyrtiko really settles upon and melds with the palate, like a dissolving salve of light caramel, fennel pollen and fiddlehead dust. Herbal and then lemon all over the back end, with a taste of just faintly caramelized meringue. Drink 2025-2031.  Tasted May 2023

Santo Wines 1911 Santorini Nykteri 2021

Nykteri is 85 percent assyrtiko (the minimum for the Santorini PDO) with (10) athiri and (5) aidani. Vines are 50 years of age from the “other” growing area, that being Oia. Really rich, viscous and fulsome white blend, more phenolic and softer than the 100 percent assyrtiko. Different and curious, certainly a matter of vintage in terms of sappy and resinous qualities. Drink 2023-2026.  Tasted May 2023

Domaine Sigalas Barrel 2021

Only assyrtiko, 60 year-old vines, high alcohol and relatively higher pH at 3.11. A naked example in 10 percent new, 90 percent used wood. Beautifully integrated already and a wine that’s more ruminative than most others but also expressly sapid, crunchy and as the Italians would call scorrevole. Warm up to this wine and its generous if also nurturing style. Drink 2024-2028.  Tasted May 2023

Santo Wines Vinsanto 2016

Vinsanto, wine of Santorini in its original form though not likely aged in ancient clay pots. Grapes are dried six to ten days and aged two years in barrel. Alcohol is quite low at just above 11 while the residual sugar runs high, at 251 g/L/. Spent six years in 225L barrels for a wine of caramel delight with other concentrated parts, especially acids, running at 10 g/L. Salty, not surprising, so yes a taste of salted caramel though and the feeling of a sunset landing into the sea behind whitewashed Oia. To great applause. Drink 2023-2033.  Tasted May 2023

Gaia Vinsanto 2012

Now going back to 2012 it is Gaia’s aged 10 years in the same one-year old barrels the wine was fermented in. The vines are 70-90 years of age for a 10 percent combination of athiri and aidani compliment to assyrtiko. Just under 11 alcohol with great acid and also pH. These grapes are half sun and half shade dried for two weeks. Incredible concentration, intensity of all parts layered but with a tempering of the structural zones that mitigate any chance of cloy by overpowering sugars. Also some bitter phenols which suggests that chocolate would be a good match, so long as it’s a bit bitter and perhaps the same idea from espresso. Hard cheeses as well so a desert wine here that can cycle through savoury connections. Drink 2023-2036.  Tasted May 2023

Argyros Estate Vinsanto Late Release 2002, PDO Santorini

First wild aspect of note is the 324 count in dry extract, more than 10 times the number of the most austere Barolo ever made and then the 290 g/L of residual sugar – while acidity is relatively lower and pH really elevated. If a Vinsanto could ever be considered and called sapid this would be the one, This assyrtiko with 10 percent each athiri and aidani comes from Argyros’ 200-plus year-old vines located in Episkopi. This is a Vinsanto that should and must be tipped alongside savoury courses and there could never be a mistake in that course being centred by salty cheese. The wine finishes with that metallic taste of iron that lingers on the palate for minutes on end. Drink 2023-2027.  Tasted May 2023

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Grilled Flank Steak

Grilled Flank Steak

There’s no time for preamble. VINTAGES rolls out another long list of wines for the weekend. All your summer bases are covered. The Pinot Noir from New Zealand are really, really good. There are whites from Greece, Niagara and South Africa to not only try but embrace. Two Ontario reds will satiate the grill. Here is a list of eight wines to look for right now.

From the left and clockwise: Argyros Atlantis White 2012, Tawse Sketches Of Niagara Riesling 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Redstone Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012, Staete Landt Paladin Pinot Noir 2010, Hidden Bench Terroir Caché Meritage 2010

From the left and clockwise: Argyros Atlantis White 2012, Tawse Sketches Of Niagara Riesling 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, Redstone Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010, Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012, Staete Landt Paladin Pinot Noir 2010, Hidden Bench Terroir Caché Meritage 2010

Tawse Sketches Of Niagara Riesling 2013, VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (89029, $17.95, WineAlign)

The gateway of the Tawse Riesling portfolio and first to be released is an omnipresent beacon for what is to come from the single-vineyard sistren. Built fruit forward from an orange zest, stone rose and lemon glade guide, this is the Sketches most juicy sensation yet. Incredible vacuum of citrus acidity waterfalling into a great white hole. Though surrounded by so many a Riesling with site specific personality, “she’ll carry on through it all.” Intensity in dry Riesling.  Tasted June 2014  @Tawse_Winery

Argyros Atlantis White 2012, Greece (371658, $17.95, WineAlign)

Assyrtiko is the rock but the composition is altered by smaller parts of Aidani and Athiri. Softer, warmer and much more approachable than the Santorini, not quite so stony but with more intense juice. A modern take on the ancient game. The palate lays out the uneven, tannic and rocky road to the amphitheatre. A long walk on carefully arranged boulders. A salt bath in warm springs. The wines of Argyros do so much to bring Greece to the world. Citrus finish and more salty mineral.  Tasted June 2014  @KolonakiGroup

Featherstone Gewürztraminer 2013, VQA Twenty Mile Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (64592, $19.95, WineAlign)

Such a pretty and elegant take on Gewürztraminer, of flowers white and in bloom, nuts blanching away. A structural, searing tightness to the mineral laced fruit will develop yet unrealized tannin and tension. There may be nothing gangly or highly viscous about it and its style is nearly, completely dry. Notes of orange zest and lychee pit. Very clean. Elan, ecrue, pearl.  Tasted June 2013  @featherstonewne

Clos Henri Bel Echo Terroir Greywacke Pinot Noir 2012, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (159137, $22.95, WineAlign)

“It is a special joy for the Bourgeois family to make Pinot Noir in New Zealand.” That statement is one you just gotta love. The Henri Bourgeois clan clearly have a whole lotta love for the climate, soils, people and the possibilities the terroir presents for his dedication towards restrained, elegant Pinot Noir. Though this teases with highly modern and juicy elements, almost, dare I say, Sonoman, there remains a rooted, savoury sense of the earth. Takes a page out of Burgundy’s book and plants it in Marlborough. Plums, cherries, smoke, spice, some tannin and for the price, nearly impossible structure. Angles and bitters persist but beneath a wealth of fruit. “Keep a coolin’, baby.” The price is impossible. Great value.  Tasted June 2014  @ClosHenri

Redstone Vineyard Reserve Cabernet Franc 2010, VQA Lincoln Lakeshore, Ontario (381244, $29.95, WineAlign)

Would I not be remiss to ignore the Tawse Laundry Vineyard by way of comparison? With the Redstone, the sister winery puts forth the same amicable fruit with charred meat accents yet minus the hyper-specific Pender perfume and wisdom. Here is an ocean in between the waves. I came in to taste Redstone with an open mind, even “bet against the company again. They tried to redefine everything that I know and love. Gotta know you’re mine.” Winemaker Rene Van Ede has fashioned a delicious Cabernet Franc that speaks in a clear 2010 voice. A war on drugs. Though it bears no teeth of conceit there is a very positive funk and sanguine notes make a play, but ultimately submit to an overall red currant, sweet bell pepper and tobacco realm. The pyrazine ring compound binds many types of pepper, cracked, swelling and swollen. A long and rich elixir without the oak needing to be heard. It does not shout but whispers. Unmistakable Pender mentored Rock ‘N Roll Cabernet Franc. Really well made. Tasted twice, March and June 2014  @RedstoneWines

Hamilton Russell Chardonnay 2012, Wo Hemel En Aarde Valley, South Africa  (931006, $34.95, WineAlign)

From what is rapidly developing as a (if not already engraved in stone) Grand Cru site in the Hemel En Aarde Valley, 2012 is a vintage that comes to greater strength from strength. Every aroma, every nuance is characterized by elegance and elasticity. Romantic Chardonnay, so representative of real love, of mineral, of most excellent barrels, ripe fruit and deft touches. Hamilton Russell takes South African Chardonnay to an entirely higher level. “Thought I’d been in love before, but in my heart, I wanted more. Seems like all I really was doing was waiting for you.”  Tasted June 2014  @TrialtoON

Staete Landt Paladin Pinot Noir 2010, Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand (376731, $36.95, WineAlign)

Though the Paladin is four years in it still retains its barrel baby fat. The rich red fruit tower reels behind a slightly reductive must and a compromise of toast and splinters from18 months spent in a mixture of 25 per cent new and 75 older French oak barrels. There is a whole surrealist street gang of fruit lurking in shadows of a de Chirico drama. I can sense the ripe plums and the cherries ready and willing to bake in the proverbial pie, and though blisteringly dry (less than 1 g/L residual sugar), it will always see potential by way of total acidity (6.1g/L). Will realize a seamless transition to mid-life anxiety while the fruit simmers away in a cauldron of that fine acidity. Ruud Maasdam’s Pinot Noir is of the scuola metafisica kind.  Tasted June 2014  @StaeteLandtWine  @liffordretail

Hidden Bench Terroir Caché Meritage 2010, VQA Beamsville Bench, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (505610, $38.20, WineAlign)

The richest Terroir Caché to date, making use of its barrel in judicious but never obnoxious ways. Huge Bench wine, needs 10 years for sure. From my earlier, April 2014 note: “No other Niagara red and for sure no alternative Peninsula Bordeaux blend exists in such a vacuum of dichotomous behaviour. Act one is an out-and-out boastful, opulent show of Rococo. Act two a gnawing and gnashing by beasts. The pitch and pull of the Terroir Caché 2010 optates and culls the extraordinary through the practice of extended délestage, what Hidden Bench notes as “a traditional method of gently draining the wine and returning it to tank with its skins during fermentation.” The ’10 is about as huge as it gets, highly ferric and tannic. Still chemically reactive, you can almost imagine its once small molecules fitfully growing into long chains. Berries of the darkest night and he who should not be named black fruit are confounded by minerals forcing the juice into a cold sweat. Will require a minimum of 10 years to soften its all-powerful grip.” From my earlier March 2013 note: “has rich, voluptuous Napa Valley written all over it. Sister Merlot dominant, Beamsville Bench sledge monster. Plumbago, mineral, blackberry and coffee in a wine that will be the ringer in a blind tasting 10 years on. Harald may be saying “this is our family jewel.” Mr. Thiel, you make good wine”  Last tasted June 2014  @HiddenBench  @BenchVigneron

Good to go!