Posts Tagged ‘Greece’
A Greek bearing gifts
Sideritis 2012, Les Dons de Dionysos, Parparoussis ($18.95, 11900995)
100% Sideritis (which is a grape variety as well as an herb) from purchased grapes grown near Patras in the Achaea region of the northern Peloponnese. Fermented and matured in stainless steel. 12.5% ABV.
Subdued but unusual nose: lemon/grapefruit, yellow apple, dried honey, camomile, quartzy sand and tree sap. Light-bodied and lightly fruity – think lemon and pear – but dry. The smooth surface doesn’t quite gloss over the coursing acidity. A surprising vein of barley sugar (the flavour, not the sweetness) runs throughout and surfaces on the saline finish, giving a salted caramel spin to the aftertaste. A sensation of heat – not from alcohol, more like you get from fresh chile or black pepper – lingers long. Fascinating. An excellent aperitif and a natural with mezze. Not a keeper, though; the next day, the wine was still tasty but had lost a lot of its individuality. (Buy again? Yes.)
MWG May 16th tasting (3/5): Hatzidakis cubed
A native of Crete who worked for Boutari, Haridimos Hatzidakis founded his eponymous estate in 1996, starting with vines owned by his wife’s family. The vineyards surrounding the canava are certified organic, a rare occurrence on the island, and the vines are trained into the traditional basket or nest shape, which offers some protection from the wind and sun and helps conserve precious moisture. Like all vines on phylloxera-free Santorini, they are ungrafted.
Santorini 2011, Assyrtiko, Domaine Hatzidakis ($21.95, 11901171)
Assyrtiko (90%), Aidani (5%) and Athiri (5%), which, oddly enough, is the exactly the same blend as Argyros’s Atlantis. No maceration. After clarification, the must is fermented at 18ºC with selected dry yeasts. Matured on the lees for 40 days. Aged in stainless steal tanks. Lightly filtered and dosed with sulphur dioxide before bottling. Around 50,000 bottles made. 13.5% ABV.
Minerals on steroids, lemon and a whiff of turpentine. Smooth on entry but with some bite on exit. A mouthful of lemon with the pith, chalk, quartz and trippy acid. Long, saline finish. (Buy again? Automatically.)
Santorini 2011, Assyrtiko, Cuvée No. 15, Domaine Hatzidakis ($28.95, 11901189)
100% organically farmed Assyrtiko. Macerated on the skin for for 12 hours. The must is then separated from the grapes, clarified and fermented with indigenous yeasts at 18°C. Maturated on the lees in stainless steel tanks for eight months. Bottled manually, unfiltered with only a small amount of sulphur. 2,700 bottles made. 14.5% ABV.
Minerals and lemon again but with a candied edge. Not bone dry on the attack. The mid-palate is laden with extract, polished stones and firm acidity. A dry astringency and a bitter note creep in on the finish along with the expected sea spray. Long, long, long. Wow-worthy. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
Santorini 2009, Cuvée spéciale nº 15, Domaine Hatzidakis ($28.15 in 2011, oenopole, NLA)
100% organically farmed Assyrtiko. Wine-making is similar to that for the 2011. 14% ABV if I’m remembering correctly.
While the 2011s were silver-gold with pale green glints, this was tending more toward gold-bronze. Striking, magnetic nose of preserved lemon, dried pine needles, oxidized honey and more. Dry and complex in the mouth, dense but saved from heaviness by the firm acidity and general savour. Layer after layer of bitter minerals. The finish is long and, yes, saline. Impressive. (Buy again? Gladly.)
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (6/6)
Italians claim vin santo (aka vino santo) as their own invention. After all, they say, the name means holy wine. That no one can offer a convincing explanation of the wine’s holy connection is conveniently overlooked. Greeks tell a different story. They claim the name is a contraction of vino di Santorini and that the style is basically copied from the Greek island’s legendary sweet wine that was first brought to the Italian peninsula by seafaring traders.
Despite the similarities – both wines are made from partially dried grapes, usually white – there are plenty of differences: different grape varieties, drying methods, maturation methods, aging requirements and sweetness levels, with the Greek version almost always being quite sweet. The spelling of the name is also different: Italian vin santo, Greek vinsanto.
Vinsanto, 20 years, Domaine Argyros (NLA. When last sold at the SAQ, the price was north of $100 for a 500 ml bottle.)
A blend of Assyrtico (80%), Aidani (10%) and Athiri (10%) from very old vines, some in excess of 150 years. The grapes are dried in the sun for 12 to 14 days, pressed, fermented with ambient yeasts and aged 17 years in French oak barrels and another three years in the bottle. 14% ABV.
Clear brown with orange glints. Complex, fresh and lifting nose of raisin, fig, caramel and orange peel. Rich and dense in the mouth, sweet but, due to the huge acidity, not saccharine or heavy. The mouth-filling flavours echo the nose and have a savoury edge. Astoundingly long. Big yet a sipper, not exactly subtle yet a vin de contemplation. Impressive in so many ways. (Buy again? If the budget permitted…)
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (5/6)
The last two wines of the tasting were served without food.
IGP Letrini 2008, Domaine Mercouri ($19.75, 11885537)
Refosco (80%) and Mavrodaphne (20%). Fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel vats. Matured 10 to 12 months in French oak barrels, 40% new. 13% ABV.
Red fruit and a herby almost ferny greenness. Swirling brings out an iodide note. It’s like standing in a seaside raspberry patch. Medium-bodied and dry, the fruit ripe but held in check. Dark minerals, light velvety tannins and bright acidity round out the picture. The savoury finish leaves an impression of purity and freshness. Even better than the bottle tasted back in March. (Buy again? Yes.)
> A wine this elegant and balanced is by definition food-friendly. At the tasting, I had no trouble imagining it as an accompaniment to a veal or pork roast or stew.
And speaking of revisiting Greek wines tasted back in March, I recently opened a second bottle of the Achaïa 2011, Kalavryta, Domaine Tetramythos ($15.45, 11885457). Though I popped the cork a few hours in advance in case it was still in that “weird reductive phase,” I needn’t have bothered: on the nose and in the mouth, the wine was clean, pure and savoury, a pleasure to drink and a fine pairing for pork chops in a sage-flecked tomato sauce.
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (4/6)
Served with veal tartare studded with cranberries and made almost fiery by shallots.
Naoussa 2011, Jeunes Vignes de Xinomavro, Domaine Thymiopoulos ($17.50, 11607617)
100% biodynamically farmed Xinomavro from ten-year-old vines. Manually harvested. 80% destemmed, 20% whole cluster pressed. Very gentle pressing. Fermented with indigenous yeasts with no pump-overs. Macerated about one week, then aged nine months in stainless steel tanks. Bottled unfiltered. 13.5% ABV.
My affection for this wine is well documented (see here, here and here) and this encounter only confirmed the love. Cherry and fired minerals with sappy/stemmy, dried herb and licorice notes. Medium-bodied and fluid. Dry yet remarkably fresh. As minerally as fruity with a cranberry-like tang. So drinkable – there really is a Beaujolais cru-like quality to the wine. Joy. (Buy again? By the case.)
> A pitch-perfect pairing. The tartare’s mild meatiness backdropped the wine’s fruit, the respective mineralities echoed each other, the “cranberry” and cranberries sang a duet and the briny capers presented no issues thanks to the wine’s acidity, savour and low tannins. Genius.
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (3/6)
Served with scallop ceviche garnished with mandarin sections, green apple, citrus zest and, surprisingly, a drizzle of simple syrup.
Santorini 2011, Estate, Domaine Argyros ($22.95, 11901091)
100% Assyrtiko from old vines (average age: 150 years). Fermented with selected yeasts. Matured six months in stainless steel tanks (80%) and new 500-litre French oak barrels (20%). 13.2% ABV.
A crystalline nose, if that makes sense; it’s like breathing quartz along with whiffs of lemon, kelp and volcano. In the mouth, not a lot of fruit per se but plenty of extract to take the edge off the coursing acidity. Above, below and around all are minerals, here fine and delicate. The long finish has a salted lemon note. Such balance, elegance and sense of place are rare at this price point. (Buy again? Imperatively.)
> You wouldn’t think a wine this savoury and acidic would work with a sweet dish but wow! It blasts through the sugar, dances with the mollusc, does acrobatics with the lime zest. Grilled fish, grilled octopus and fried squid, not to mention oysters on the half shell, make less unconventional but equally delicious pairings.
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (2/6)
The second dish was albacore sashimi.
Vin de pays de Markopoulo 2012, Savatiano, Domaine Papagiannakos ($15.90, 11097451)
100% Savatiano. Manually harvested. Fermented with selected yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Matured on the lees for three months. Filtered before bottling. 12.5% ABV.
Candied sour lemon, overtones of tropical fruit (mango, banana, papaya), dried hay in the background. Fruity, almost sweet, on entry, though make no mistake: this is a dry wine. The clean flavours evoke lemon and quartz. The extract balances the solid acidity. A faint bitterness lingers after the fruit fades. Not profound but delivering real bang for the buck. (Buy again? Yes.)
> The wine was synergistic with the cilantro and cucumber garnish. It amped up the fishiness of the albacore (not unpleasantly so) while the fish brought out its fruit. oenopole also suggests squid stuffed with spinach and feta and/or shrimp sautéed with garlic and parsley and served with lemon wedges. It’s all good.
oenopole’s Greek spring workshop (1/6)
A group of wine and food geeks, several of them writers or bloggers, were recently invited to oenopole world headquarters for a second wine and food workshop, titled printemps grec. The wines this time around were entirely Greek but the food most definitely wasn’t, the idea being to see how Greek wines work with non-Greek dishes. Guest chef Noam Arieh Gedalof, formerly of The French Laundry and Kaizen, turned out a succession of beautiful small plates, a feat made all the more impressive by the HQ’s complete lack of a kitchen.
While waiting for the tasting proper to being, we were offered glasses of a sparkler.
Amalia Brut, Méthode traditionnelle, Domaine Tselepos ($23.00, 11901103)
Formerly available only on a private-import basis, this 100% Moschofilero traditional method sparkler will go on sale at the SAQ on September 26 and not a moment too soon. 12% ABV.
Light straw-yellow with fine persistent bubbles. Fleet yet present on the palate, pure and quite dry. The fruit tends to lemon and is accompanied by a crystalline minerality and a telltale hint of Moschofilero’s floral aromatics. The acidity and effervescence keep things lively. The clean finish brings a faint saline note. Can hold its own against any cava or crémant at the price point. (Buy again? Can’t wait.)
The first dish was a lightly dressed salad of mixed greens, planed root vegetables and herbs.
Mantinia 2012, Moschofilero, Domaine Tselepos ($17.85, 11097485)
100% Moschofilero. The grapes are macerated eight hours at 10ºC, then pneumatically pressed. Fermentation with selected yeasts and in stainless steel vats is at 12ºC and lasts 20 days with regular stirring. 12% ABV.
Lightly fragrant nose – grapey and floral (honeysuckle?) with white mineral notes – evocative of Muscat and Gewurztramner. Dry and bright in the mouth with an appealing tautness. The fruit is citrusy (lemon, white grapefruit) and, again, the finish is clean and faintly salt-crystally. Straightforward and fresh, this makes an excellent aperitif but also has enough heft to go with food. (Buy again? Yes.)
> The wine’s acidity handled the vinaigrette with aplomb. The root vegetables brought out the wine’s minerality, the bitter radicchio its sweetness and fruit. The fresh mint leaf achieved a surprising synergy. Theo Diamantis mentioned that the first local non-Greek restaurant to put the wine on its list was Toqué!, where chef Normand Laprise paired it with wild asparagus, a combination I intend to put to the test now that local asparagus season is upon us.
And speaking of printemps grec wine and food pairings, oenopole and SAT Foodlab are joining forces this evening for a Nuit greque au Labo culinaire with four visiting winemakers. If last year’s event is anything to go by, it should be epic.
Return of the world’s most drinkable Xinomavro: the sequel
Naoussa 2011, Jeunes Vignes de Xinomavro, Domaine Thymiopoulos ($17.50, 11607617)
An earlier version of this tasting note claimed (as I’d been told) that the wine was made using carbonic maceration. Turns out that’s wrong. Here’s the technical low-down, straight from the winemaker: “10 year old vines from Biodynamically-farmed Xynomavro (Trilofo and Fitia vineyards). Grapes are hand picked and brought to the winery in small cases. 80 % de-stemmed, 20% whole cluster pressed. Very gentle pressing. No pumping over to avoid extracting harsh tannins. Fermented with wild yeasts, maceration takes place for about one week…then aged in stainless steel tanks for about 9 months…bottled unfiltered.” 13.5% ABV.
Cherry, slate and spice. Light to medium-bodied. As smooth and flowing as ever, but this vintage also has a velvety astringency running throughout. The sweet-tart fruit is ripe and sun-drenched but light, not jammy. Darker, more minerally flavours, a faint green streak and a whiff of cherry cordial colour the tangy finish. Think Greek cru Beaujolais. Maybe the most accomplished of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 trio. A simple, joyful, food-friendly wine to buy multiple bottles – if not cases – of. But hurry: it’s already sold out at several outlets. (Buy again? Duh!)
[Edited on April 19, 2013]
MWG March 8th tasting (3/5): Two Greeks, a Turk and a Galician walk into a wine bar…
IGP Letrini 2008, Domaine Mercouri ($19.75, 11885537)
Located on the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula near the village of Korakochori, the estate is the second oldest modern-day producer in Greece (after Boutari). This is a blend of sustainably farmed Refosco (80%) and Mavrodaphne (20%); the Refosco vines were first brought to the estate from Friuli in the 19th century. Fermented with neutral yeasts in stainless steel vats. Undergoes malolactic fermentation. Matured 10 to 12 months in French oak barrels, 40% new. 13% ABV.
Spicy wild berries, dried wood, herbs. Medium-bodied, like all the wines in this flight. Very dry. Juicy but not cloyingly so. Acid bright with tight tannins and a bitter-edged finish. A suave wine that is more upfront than deep but definitely easy-drinking and food friendly. Plus it hits that “in the mood for a winey red” spot. (Buy again? Yes.)
Öküzgözü 2010, Terra, Kayra ($15.30, 11885625)
100% Öküzgözü (“ox eye”). Grown in the province of Elazığ, in east central Anatolia. This bottling is part of the producer’s Terra line, which focuses on wines made from indigenous varieties. 13.5% ABV.
Pleasant if simple nose of slate and candied cassis. Soft textured. Full of plum and fruit cake flavours and powdery tannins, with lots of acidity and a credible finish. Not a wow for anyone around the table but unusual and kind of fun. (Buy again? On a whim, sure, especially if planning to eat lahmacun.)
Valdeorras 2010, Gaba Do Xil, Telmo Rodriguez ($17.25, 11861771)
100% Mencia, a mix of purchased grapes and the estate’s own; unlike most Mencia we see these days, this isn’t from Bierzo but nearby Galicia. Manually harvested. Native yeasts. 13 % ABV.
Candied cherry, swimming pool and graphite. Smooth and silky on the palate. More acidic than tannic. Umami-ish set of flavours dominated by dried plum and soy sauce, including the salt. Long astringent and drying finish. Seemed short on fruit. Suffering from travel shock? (Buy again? Maybe.)
Achaïa 2011, Kalavryta, Domaine Tetramythos ($15.45, 11885457)
The estate is located in Achaea, on the Gulf of Corinth in the northern Peloponnese. Farming is certified organic with an eye on biodynamic. This wine is made using the free-run must from Black of Kalavryta (Μαύρο Καλαβρυτινό) grapes, an indigenous variety once widely grown in the area but now nearly extinct. Tetramythos has 1.4 hectares of the vines and is the sole remaining producer. Alcoholic fermentation (with native yeasts) and nine months’ maturation are in stainless steel vats. Malolactic fermentation is prevented. Use of sulphur dioxide is kept to a bare and tiny minimum. The wine is unfined but coarsely filtered before bottling. Average annual production is 9,000 bottles. Recommended pairings feature tomato in one form or another: baked tuna in tomato sauce (tuna used to be common in the gulf); baked stuffed tomatoes; or rabbit or cock, browned and braised in red wine with tomato paste being added toward the end and finished by adding parboiled hylopites (square egg noodles) to the sauce and cooking them until done. 13.5% ABV.
Odd-bordering-on-unappetizing nose of ketchup, old leather, black pepper and animale. Smooth and juicy in the mouth, however, with supple tannins, bright acidity, clear flavours and a sustained finish. The MWG member who took the tail end of the bottle home with him reports that the next day the “offensive funkiness” had gone and the wine was “very tasty.” The Quebec agent reports the same thing: the wine is currently in a “weird reductive phase” and needs to be carafed the better part of a day to rectify itself. Will do. (Buy again? Yes.)
Brett happens 