Brett happens

Achaia 2014, Malagousia, Domaine Tetramythos ($18.50, 12910335)
100% organically farmed Malagousia from vines grown at just under 1,000 m. Manually harvested. Destemmed. Macerated on the skins for 30 hours. Only the free-run juice is used. Fermented in temperature-controlled (18°C) stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts for 100 days. Undergoes full malolactic fermentation. Reducing sugar: 1.8 g/l. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: oenopole.
Aromatic but not exaggeratedly so: floral (jasmine, lily), fruity (pineapple, peach, lemon), minerals (chalk, quartz) and a hint of green herbs. Fresh and lively in the mouth. Very dry. Most present on the attack, the fruit quickly gives way to crystalline minerals. The long citric finish has a lingering bitterness and touch of heat that I don’t recall from a bottle tasted at the winery six weeks earlier. A bit more rustic than I remember, too, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Well chilled, an aperitif wine par excellence; slightly warmer, a fine accompaniment to grilled prawns with a herby pineapple salsa. (Buy again? Done!)

More subdued, acidic and minerally than is usual for this grape, a fact the winemaker attributes above all to the vineyard’s altitude.

MWG August 12th tasting: flight 1 of 8