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| SANTORINI
I don’t know why they try to grow grapes on this dry rock of an island, or anything else for that matter, but they have been doing so quite successfully for thousands of years. It is so dry on the volcanic island of Santorini that an important portion of the vine’s water comes from the morning fog that rolls off the Aegean Sea; there is hardly any water in the ground and it only rains twice a year. Water conservation is so critical that the vines are trained in a circular fashion directly touching the ground: I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the world. This training system also protects the vines against the often harsh winds. The island’s soil is of a unique composition of cinder, rust, lava and pumice stone. In other times the island was famous for its Vinsanto, which it exported all over the world; that’s right, the stuff the Italians copied and called their own was invented right here on Santorini (VIN SANTOrini). They still make this sweet wine but the really exciting wines for my palate are the bone-dry, crisp yet fruit-filled whites from the Assyrtiko grape, a varietal that has been growing on this island for at least three thousand years according to historical records. There are other varietals grown on Santorini but Assyrtiko is by far the most important.
Yorgos Koutsoyannopoulos runs the oldest winery on the island, started by his great grandfather who came to the island from the mainland 150 years ago to trade in olive oil. I am usually not much impressed to look at a winery’s tanks and facilities but to see such cutting edge equipment in a winery on the edge of the winemaking world was truly impressive. Yorgos has a fine touch on all that modern gear so he does not turn out bland, modern wines but rather stylish, expressive drinks that have something to say about the unique place they originate.
Yorgos owns around 60 acres of vines, all grown on original, ungrafted rootstock. The winery is entirely gravity fed. Both the red and white grapes are cooled down to 55 degrees when brought to the winery and are cleaned up on a sorting belt. He gets a miniscule 16 HL/HA yield in his vineyards of tiny grapes. He makes two Assyrtiko wines, stainless and barrel aged. The wines have a lovely citric bouquet, with notes of lime and lemon. The palate of the stainless steel wine is full of a delicious minerality laced with more citrus fruits like grapefruit and orange. This wine is lively and fresh, typical of the volcanic soils of the island. The barrel-aged wines sees about 5 months of aging in large, 500ml casks. The barrel ageing rounds out the acidity and fills out the middle of the wine but does not clobber the fruit with oak flavors or tannins. It is a delightful drink. |
| Santorini White |
| 100% Assyrtiko raised in stainless steel. |
| Santorini White-Barrel Aged |
| 12 months in French oak. |
| Mavrotragano Red |
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| Mezzo |
| Mandilaria/Assyrtiko |
| Vinsanto |
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