Greek Sauvignon Blanc – in the Shadow of the Loire's Cult Wine?

Sauvignon Blanc is, famously, the second most important white variety internationally after Chardonnay. Among wine lovers, though, it's fairly controversial. Some are put off by the grassy notes, the famous cat's pee, of early-picked vines; others find the combination of substantial tannin and almost kitschy exotic fruit ill-fitting – and then find added oak treatment completely wrong on top of that. I'm not entirely free of such prejudices myself either, even though in an earlier tasting we did manage to appreciate (in German) the varietal qualities that many do genuinely value.

To stay as objective as possible as a taster (we've written more than enough already about the limits of that objectivity in our article on our rating system), I naturally have to give the variety the occasional chance to win me over. What could be more fitting for that than the wine, released only in exceptional years, from a leading estate in one of the best-known Sauvignon Blanc appellations? We're talking about the "Baron de L" from Domaine de Ladoucette in Pouilly-Fumé. First off: no question, the bottle is a real eye-catcher.

And it really is impressive what the 1982 still has to offer forty years after production – not necessarily on the nose, where you can already tell that this wine doesn't really need such a long time in bottle – but on the palate, where it shows very layered with time. At the same time, though, as a Sauvignon Blanc sceptic, you naturally have to wonder: how on earth was it possible to win this wine at auction for a single-digit sum? That it's an "icon wine" is stated by pretty much every wine merchant who carries it, and the over €80 asked for the current vintage does visibly underline those ambitions too. At the same time, though, it's striking that, online, few wine drinkers seem to be singing its praises. And at least the reviews from critics that aren't hidden behind paywalls aren't exactly euphoric either. A wine that lives above all on the assurance of being something special? Or, as some might grumble, precisely proof that Sauvignon Blanc, even in genuinely good form, can't really thrill?

Against this backdrop, though, what the two Greek wines we drank alongside it contributed to the evening turns out genuinely positive. The Sauvignon Blanc Kryovrisi 2021 from Domaine Hatzimichalis (PGI Atalanti) and the Amethystos Fumé 2019 from Domaine Costa Lazaridi (PGI Drama) differ in that the latter is oak-aged. (Domaine Hatzimichalis also has such a version on offer, though we haven't tasted it.)

What they have in common is that both come from estates that established themselves in the same phase of Greek winemaking, when career-changers recognised this sector's potential and enriched it with innovative ideas. (See our post (in German) on Domaine Costa Lazaridi here, and an article (in German) on Domaine Hatzimichalis's pioneering achievement in producing varietal wines here.) The fact that both labels say "single vineyard" also testifies to a growing awareness of sharpening the typicity of Greek products by focusing on single-site wines.

And what's inside the bottle convinces across the board too. The Kryovrisi is a beautifully balanced wine, with an appealing bouquet, wonderful interplay and – often the Achilles' heel for Greek wines – with 13.5% an alcohol level that keeps the wine perfectly in check. Also lovely: finally, no distracting CO2 for a wine that's made to be drunk now. For around €10, there's nothing left to wish for here, and we happily award an outstanding 17 points.

The Amethystos Fumé, too, presents itself as an ideal representative of its style. Here you pay a bit more – but still clearly under €20 – and get very distinctive oak aromatics for it. The wine likewise deserves an outstanding 17 points. One thing should be highlighted in addition, though: anyone who, as a self-confessed Sauvignon Blanc philistine, has to shake their head at the internationally perhaps most famous Greek Sauvignon Blanc – the product from Ktima Gerovassiliou (discussed here (in German)) – over why exotic fruit and elegance absolutely have to be married together there, may well be considerably happier here: because on the nose, this wine from Domaine Costa Lazaridi comes in with a rather forceful smokiness that quickly makes you forget the search for fruit in the background. And the vanilla that dominates on the palate may be a touch too insistent for some, but at least gives the use of oak on this variety a justification I can follow.

Does Sauvignon Blanc really have what it takes to be a cult wine? I'll have to remain open on that question for now. In any case, in Greece it's turned into very good wine that fulfils its purpose: being drunk with pleasure.