Alpha Estate — Syrah 2023

Alpha Estate, founded in 1997 by viticulturist Makis Mavridis and oenologist Angelos Iatridis, is one of Greece's most precise and technically minded estates, located in the northwest, in Amyndeon within the PGI Florina. This is one of the country's coolest corners, a continental high plateau at a good 600 to 700 metres, ringed by mountains and tempered by two lakes. And you can taste exactly that in this Syrah. It comes from the single vineyard "Turtles," named after the tortoises that wander through the Syrah parcels in summer, while the Xinomavro next door occupies the "Hedgehog" site. Here Syrah ripens differently than in the hot south — not broad and jammy, but dark, spicy, peppery, with herbs and an acidity that nudges it more towards the northern Rhône. 100 percent Syrah, 14.5 percent alcohol, twelve months in French oak with medium toast and then twelve months in bottle. At around €17, this is a single-vineyard bottling from one of the country's best addresses at a fair price.

In the cellar, the wine follows the pattern of a modern, structured Syrah, with cold maceration, slowly rising fermentation temperatures and eight months on the fine lees before going into wood. The 2023 vintage was not an easy one in Amyndeon. A mild winter with little snow was followed by a wet, strikingly cool spring with mildew pressure, then a hot, dry summer with water stress. What saved the vintage was the ripening phase, which unfolded long and evenly with cool nights and brought the red varieties in particular good phenolic ripeness while preserving freshness. For an estate that selects and irrigates as precisely as Alpha Estate, such a year is more of an advantage than a problem.

I had the 2023 vintage in my glass this month. On the nose it is still relatively restrained, mostly blackberry, with a touch of bell pepper. On the palate it is very dense at first, but then quite quickly overtaken by the alcohol. It lacks a little of the complexity needed to truly lift the wine to greater heights. I can certainly understand those who give it "only" 89+ and would put the drinking window two years out.

The producer calls the wine a cellar-worthy Vin de Garde. I've grown cautious by now when it comes to ageing predictions for Alpha Estate; I still need a few more years of my own experience there. It will probably keep well, but it doesn't necessarily need that time, and it likely won't release much new complexity in the process. It is very well made in any case, a very solid Greek Syrah. For me, that's 91 points.