It Doesn't Always Have to Be Santorini…

Assyrtiko from the Greek island of Santorini is a serious force, internationally as well. Lobenberg too awards it as much as 99 points on occasion. It is also impressive (or rather somewhat unsettling?) that in the new round of the competition for the 50 best Greek wines (“50GGW”) Assyrtiko is placed no fewer than 17 times – and only once with a wine that does not come from Santorini. So we deliberately wanted to taste wines of this variety from the Greek mainland once again – as we had before. Last year we had already got to know very diverse products here and, on a foray right across the Greek mainland, were able to make a few genuine discoveries (see the report here). The wines of this year's tasting, which took place blind, I present below in ascending order of points.

The basics on the grape – taste, Santorini versus the mainland, food pairings – can be found in our big Assyrtiko guide.

The bottom end is marked by the wine sent into the race as a pirate, an Assyrtiko of the 2019 vintage that a member of the tasting team had recently bought at LIDL in Greece. The wine, which Greek Wine Cellars produces for the discounter from grapes of PGI Central Greece, costs an astonishing 1.49€ there! In Germany that comes to 4.99€ in the online shop. What is one to say? Yes, the wine was passed down through the ranks over the course of the evening. And a few days later there was only little aromatic left in the follow-up tasting. But of course one must not expect anything else. What actually strikes one positively is that wine and minerality do give the wine structure and that it shows a fruit typical of the variety, even if that remains somewhat one-dimensional, recalling green apples above all. Those are a considerable good 15 points – and the now lifelong nagging task of finding a German wine in the discounter for under 2€ that represents such a successful introduction to a German grape variety.

The Assyrtiko 2021 from the Nemea Winery (PGI Peloponnese) stands out from this year's field in that it turns the fruity dimension of the Assyrtiko grapes outwards most clearly. Here one finds a considerably wider range of fruit aromas. Indeed, one even has cherry notes in the nose, rather untypical for a white wine. On the palate nectarine then joins in. The wine is moreish – but broad enough not to become boring. On top of that come lemony hints which pass over into notes of basil and thus prevent the wine from becoming too kitschy. Even so, it met the fate of being downgraded a little in the course of the tasting. It is a wine that certainly convinces on its own – and can also hold its own against most Sauvignon Blancs where exotic fruit is concerned. Compared with the other wines, however, it shows less complexity and therefore ended up at, of course still considerable, a very good 16 points.

In a similar league in qualitative terms, though stylistically quite different, is the Assyrtiko from Mega Spileo (PGI Achaia) of the 2021 vintage. In the nose the wine is far more restrained. In the reverberation it is somewhat floral and marked by honey. In between, the structure of the wine dominates, even if ethereal aromas also play a relatively diffuse part. The acidity is crisp. It does not stand out as positively as it could, however, since the tannin is after all a shade too abrasive and the drinking flow is thereby noticeably slowed. Likewise a very good 16 points.

In the middle of the tasting field we then meet the Assyrtiko from the Olympia Land Estate (PGI Ilia). Last year this estate had quite clearly won the race with the 2019 vintage and taken 18.5 points. A dedicated Greek wine enthusiast had got hold of the wine on the strength of our words of praise and arrived, for the 2020 vintage – the one we tasted this time – at a rather sobering 88 points. So we were somewhat forewarned. The alcohol, too, is now in a more moderate range at “only” 14%. That is still not little, but of course quite a difference from 15%. And indeed the wine was pretty hard to find in the blind tasting. In the end a few characteristic notes of roasted almonds did give it away. The wine is sweet and marked by good fruit on the attack, but does not keep this up in its structure. Ultimately it remains narrower than the previous year – and shorter. Thoroughly considerable excellent 16.5 points, but a long way behind the 2019.

The Assyrtiko of the Mylonas Winery (PGI Attica), 2021 vintage, has it in it. My word, what a refreshing wine! In the mouth it comes across as a few degrees colder straight away than all the other wines. Yes, there is also a little CO2 that one would not strictly need. But the acidity is so perfectly in balance and carries the wine for so long that one forgives it a great deal. Aromatically peach dominates, running very consistently through the course of the flavour. A wide range of aromas, however, is not what the wine delivers. And at some point that does after all raise doubts as far as an enthusiastic score is concerned. On the other hand: a wine like this is not one you need to drink and dissect over several days. We therefore stay at the upper end of the scores under discussion and give it, before the shock of freshness wears off, an excellent 17 points.

The next wine puts us in something of an awkward position. It is the reference bottle of the **Aghia Kiriaki 2018 from Alpha Estate (PGI Florina), **which last year had received a somewhat perplexed 16.5 points. Let us put it down to the extra year of maturity that what back then we could only taste out with a great deal of creativity and goodwill towards the estate (about which more can be read here (in German)) struck us quite clearly this time – an almost overripe fruit which, paired with the creaminess of the wine, makes excellent sense and evokes a noble impression that none of the other wines can match. Even if we may have to put half a point down to daily form or the tasting context, honesty demands that this time we clearly award a great 17.5 points. So: ready to drink! (For anyone who would like to form their own impression: the 2019 vintage is available from our partner shop (in German) at 17.99€ a bottle. If you buy two bottles and put one aside for a year, you can check whether such an improvement really does occur within a single year...)

A real surprise was the **Alepotrypa 2020 from the Domaine Hatzimichalis. After the first sip I had provisionally pushed the bottle right to the end of my ranking. Unlike the Assyrtiko of the Nemea Winery, however, the wine then moved steadily upwards over the course of the evening. And I had to concede that it had simply taken me by surprise at the start – with an insane explosiveness. The nose does not yet betray at all what awaits one on the palate. There the wine sprints into the furthest corners and entices with intense aromas of apples and pears, but also of sage. The longer one drinks the wine, the more one recognises this dimension in the nose as well, and the whole thing comes together harmoniously. (Only a trace of CO2 draws attention to itself unnecessarily in between.) At 14.5% the wine is right at the front in terms of alcohol too. As in the previous year, it shows that racy Assyrtiko from the mainland can take a great deal in that respect. (The Areti white from Biblia Chora has a good 14% as well.) The wine is great and accordingly deserves 18 points. **In Germany one can buy it for under 10€, which is a magnificent price-quality ratio.

Stylistically really quite similar – only less agitated, more self-contained – is then, finally, the **Areti white 2019 from Biblia Chora **(PGI Pangeon). On the estate there is a report here (in German). The 2018 vintage had taken a fantastic sixth place in the past round of the “50 GGW” (and was then soon sold out everywhere). In our tasting the previous year we unfortunately had to contend with a bottle fault. Since I very much wanted to taste the wine comparatively at long last, we therefore bought it in for this year's tasting. Although this wine too unfolds its aromatics explosively, from the very first attack there was never any question that one had something quite special in the glass. To the fine nose is added a very complex course of flavour – and a very long reverberation. A wine that leaves one astonished and that one ought to have tried at some point. For this is a phenomenal Greek Assyrtiko, deserving 18.5 points. And one may quite happily lay it down in the cellar, for it will certainly last a few more years. (The winner of the test, incidentally, is available at 16.90€ a bottle from our partner shop. If you order via this form (in German), we receive a small commission with which we finance our website.)

To close there was a dessert wine made from Assyrtiko. The **Arethousa 2017 – again from the Olympia Land Estate. And since the dry wine did not quite manage a top score this year, the conclusion provided by this accomplished wine was all the more gratifying. The grapes dried in the sun yield a wine here in which the minerality does not come up short for all the sweetness. And citrus aromas, which dominate over the typical dried fruit here, lend the wine sufficient freshness despite an acidity that naturally recedes somewhat into the background. We therefore ended the evening with a great 17.5 points.**