Agiorgitiko in All Its Guises

One of the highest-rated wines of last year - the Areti red 2013 from Ktima Biblia Chora - which received 18 points from us, was a single-varietal Agiorgitiko. So it is high time we devoted ourselves to this variety (which Yiannis Karakasis introduces here) in more detail. The start shall be made by two articles in which we discuss a few wines that already reveal a great deal about this variety. The next post will be about blends. Today, however, Agiorgitiko stands in the spotlight alone.

Basics on the variety - how it tastes, which styles exist, what it pairs with - can be found in our big Agiorgitiko guide.

Nemea 2018 from Palivou Estate

The start is made by a wine from the PDO that made the variety famous in the first place. Although - anyone whose wine drinking is more internationally oriented will pause briefly at the first sniff of this wine, take a second look at the label and stare, puzzled, at the vintage. Yes, admittedly, Agiorgitiko is not the greatest ageing artist; oxidative notes are already clearly noticeable here (it was tasted in the first half of 2021). This wine really does not need to get much older. Anyone, at the other end of the spectrum of Greek wine obsession, who knows their way around the north of the Peloponnese oenologically, will note with satisfaction that the Agiorgitiko vinified slightly outside the PDO by Giannikos Winery (which we discussed here) has a stylistically fitting and geographically obvious parallel in this wine, now produced within Nemea. Somehow, then, the wine holds its little revelations ready for just about everyone. So much cherry and strawberry and at the same time so many herbs - what more does one actually want from a Nemea? For this price of under €10, absolutely nothing. And that is why an excellent 17 points are truly appropriate.

Geometria Agiorgitiko 2020 from Lafazanis Winery

As with the Agiorgitiko from Giannikos, the label here does not say "PDO Nemea" either, but "PGI Peloponnese." This time it is really not down to the winery's location (Giannikos Winery lies near Corinth, i.e. outside the PDO) - for this estate stands absolutely centrally, by ancient Kleonai. But a share of grapes from Corinth is also processed. The nose shows butterscotch, which then reappears on the palate quite classically as sour cherry. Add a decent portion of black pepper. The finish is medium-long with raspberry and redcurrant and shows that an Agiorgitiko can be fun entirely without oak, but with plenty of invigorating drinkability. The rather fascinating hints of flint and freshly moistened riverbed on the nose contribute to that as well. A very good wine at 16 points, whose style could happily appear more often.

Agiorgitiko Cube 2015 from Panagiotopoulos Wines

On the Peloponnese, however, Agiorgitiko has long since ceased to be at home only in Nemea and its surroundings. In PGI Trifilia, part of PGI Messinia, Panagiotopoulos Wines also produces a remarkable Agiorgitiko in its premium line - remarkable above all because even in its seventh year the wine shows no signs of weakness. It tends towards a rustic rather than filigree style, is still very much shaped by oak, but at the same time benefits greatly from arriving at only 13% alcohol. On the nose it is very spicy, reminiscent of curry plant. The primary fruit still shows very fresh, especially on the finish. With more time, the impression of a chewed coffee bean remains. All of that suffices for an excellent 16.5 points. That it also costs just (a truly laughable, for this quality) €6.80 at the estate speaks for the great potential of the internationally much-neglected west coast of the Peloponnese.

Emphasis, Agiorgitiko 2016 from Ktima Pavlidis

Last but not least, we want to venture a look beyond the Peloponnese. After all, with the Areti from Ktima Biblia Chora we have already been to northern Greece. With the Emphasis from Ktima Pavlidis, now in PGI Drama, we are likewise dealing with a classic as far as the establishment of this variety so far from its homeland is concerned. So we close this article with a certain inclusio. However, the enthusiasm for this stylistic device is somewhat muted. For this Agiorgitiko from 2016 still shows itself very young on the nose - so boisterous that we have slight doubts about the bottle. The impression is defined by aromas such as cedarwood. This continues as a constant right into the wine's aftertaste. The tannin fills the entire mouth but is currently still too overwhelming - the oak by no means as harmoniously integrated as in the blend with Syrah - the "Thema red" - from the same winery. A little raspberry shows on the palate; sour cherry joins in the medium-long finish. A wine that already deserves a very good 16 points - but certainly has far more potential and can currently only hint at its fruit. That, at least, is suggested by Mark Squires awarding the 2012 vintage 92 points for the Wine Advocate in 2019, attesting it very good fruit - and seeing the strong oak blow off after just half an hour. Of that, there was still no sign with us even after days. A wine we will certainly come back to at a greater degree of maturity. Slight doubts about the quality of the individual bottle thus remain, given the discrepancy to be addressed openly here. Should we gain different impressions at future tastings, we will of course note them. But we did not want to do without the note entirely either. For we see no classic fault on the horizon here. And besides, this ending simply leads too beautifully into the next article for us to have deleted the impression altogether. For the next article will, among other things, be about the aforementioned blend of Agiorgitiko and Syrah from Ktima Pavlidis, with which the winery has achieved something innovative.