Boutari — Nemea 1998

The Boutari Nemea 1998 (PDO Nemea, 100% Agiorgitiko, 11.5%). Boutari is one of the most historic wine houses in Greece, founded in Naoussa in 1879, with first exports from 1935. In the 1980s the house expanded to Nemea, and the Agiorgitiko Boutari became part of the core portfolio — a standard bottling, not a reserve wine, available in Ireland at the time for just under 10 euros. Expectations for a standard bottle over a quarter of a century old were naturally not very high. However, we did, admittedly, harbour some small hope. For in 2022, Pavlos Gegas had awarded the only five years younger Boutari Nemea 2003 a full 91 points — and that from a bottle that did not even come from ideal storage. Gegas described a wine of genuine tertiary richness: carob, chestnut, espresso, aged chocolate, glazed plum and cherry fruit, plus leather, roasted garlic, dried herbs, and hints of Fine Tawny Port. Crucially: despite the maturity, still remarkable energy thanks to fully integrated high acidity and low pH, completely resolved tannins, and a long finish. His conclusion: the wine offered "a glimpse of the hidden potential of great Agiorgitiko."

However, 1998 and 2003 were also very different vintages. 2003 was the European heat year, which also hit Greece in full — yielding very concentrated, structured grapes with corresponding ageing potential. According to a scientific study on Agiorgitiko in Nemea (Koundouras et al.), 1998 was likewise very hot and without summer rainfall, with water stress, accelerated sugar ripeness, and phenolically more concentrated grapes on the stressed plots. All the more puzzling, then, are the mere 11.5% alcohol on our bottle — in a hot, dry year one would normally expect more. Presumably this reflects the viticultural practice of a large house in the late 1990s, when concentration was not yet a primary goal for a standard bottling. For comparison: even the far more highly rated