Alpha Estate – S.M.X. 2017

The S.M.X. is the markedly more ambitious big brother of the Axia, from the same cool, elevated sites of Amyndeon, but built quite differently. Here it's 60 percent Syrah, 20 percent Merlot and 20 percent Xinomavro, with a yield of just over 25 hectolitres per hectare – only half that of the Axia. Add to this at least eighteen months in new French oak and an unfiltered bottling. This is clearly conceived as a Vin de Garde with Grand Vin ambition, one for which even the Bordeaux consultant Eric Boissenot is credited as blending consultant. The Syrah provides colour, dark fruit and pepper, the Merlot cushions, the Xinomavro brings acidity, grip and ageing potential. At around €23, measured against this level of effort, it remains fairly priced.

The 2017 vintage was dry and early here too, with hail in certain sites, but qualitatively strong, and Syrah, Merlot and Xinomavro all ripened superbly in Amyndeon. Analytically the year is especially intriguing, for despite a good 14 percent alcohol it shows a high acidity of 6.4 grams at a low pH – a cool, taut backbone rather than mere power.

Expectations were correspondingly high. Julia Harding MW awarded the wine 18++ points on JancisRobinson.com, praising its power and finesse and seeing great potential, which in her view it would unfold quickly. In retrospect, though, it is precisely those two pluses that seem to me too optimistic. I myself rated it 95+ in 2021, expecting it to climb further, and then 92+ at the end of 2024, with the revised expectation that it was merely in a trough from which it would work its way back out.

Now, a good year and a half later, the nose shows distinctly less blackberry than it did a few years ago, instead offering dark cherry, plum and just a hint of Christmas spice. On the palate, an acidity carries the wine through quite steadily, alongside caramel. It comes across as relatively unspectacular, but very well balanced. You can drink it now or up to around 2030. For me that's 92 points, but this time without the plus. It hasn't quite fulfilled the great hopes placed in it, yet that is precisely why such follow-up tastings over the years matter.