Vintage 2000

hot and dry · a red wine year of the north

Nationwide 7.0 out of 10 · Confidence of rating: medium

Macedonia

Naoussa · PDO – Red 8.5 · White 7.0 (Confidence: medium)

Central Greece

Attika · PGI – Red 7.5 · White 5.5 (Confidence: medium)

Peloponnese

Nemea · PDO – Red 6.0 (Confidence: low)

Mantinia · PDO – White 6.5 (Confidence: low)

Cyclades

Santorini · PDO – Red 6.0 · White 7.0 (Confidence: low)

Crete 7.0 · Peloponnese outside Nemea and Mantinia 7.0 (each as an overall value without separation by color)

A very hot, very dry year. In Larissa, the thermometer climbed to 45.4 degrees in the summer of 2000 – to this day the city's official all-time record. The core of the heat hit continental central Greece and Attika; the Peloponnese and Central Greece suffered from pronounced summer drought.

Two points separate Attika's red from its white. That is the axis of this vintage: warmth benefits the red side and costs the white, unless altitude or the sea stand in between.

Naoussa – Red 8.5

The north experienced a different year from the rest of the country: warmer than usual, but without the extremes. Budbreak came somewhat later than the previous year, flowering in May fell into good conditions between 20 and 27 degrees, August turned hot without spikes, September dry. Irrigation was applied at the end of June and the end of July to counter the heat stress.

What came of it were small, perfectly healthy berries with high phenolic and alcohol concentration alongside retained acidity – structured, long-lived wines, and because the material was healthy, one could wait for full tannin ripeness. In the north, this vintage is to this day simply called the year of all years.

Nemea – Red 6.0

Two and a half points lower, and the reason is the same warmth from the other direction. Agiorgitiko came under risk of overripeness from heat and drought stress: lots of sugar, sluggish phenolic ripening, jammy notes. Anyone who wanted to avoid that had to harvest early.

Santorini – White 7.0

The island counts this year among the few with 5 extreme heat days in the critical ripening phase, and 2000 also marks the beginning of the structurally drier period that continues there to this day. The Assyrtiko stayed fresh despite full ripeness – its tartaric acid is more stable than that of almost any other white variety.

In the hot lowlands of Attika, this did not succeed. Savatiano and Roditis lost acidity, and only very early or nighttime harvesting helped against it. The white score of 5.5 is the lowest on this page.

Our wines

We have tasted two Greek wines from 2000, both red: the Sitia from Domaine Economou with 94 points and the Rapsani Reserve from Tsantali with 90.

From Naoussa, the region that carries this vintage, we have nothing.

All tasting notes from 2000

· Domaine Economou Sitia · 94

· Tsantali Rapsani Reserve · 90

Decade 1990s · 2000 · Vintage 2001 | All vintages