Ktima Gerovassiliou — Avaton 2021

The Avaton 2021 from Ktima Gerovassiliou (PGI Epanomi, 14.5% ABV). The cuvée is composed predominantly of Limnio, with smaller proportions of Mavrotragano and Mavroudi. Mavrotragano has lately been making a name for itself beyond Santorini as well. Mavroudi is an important, albeit genetically often very diffuse grape variety in northern Greece. The significance of the Limnio grape for Evangelos Gerovassiliou becomes clear when one considers that the winemaker has chosen it as the red counterpart to the Malagousia variety he rescued from obscurity -- even though the identically shaped bottle in its red wine iteration is not filled with a single-varietal wine. On the nose, abundant dark berries, but also plenty of spice and herbs, along with some cherry and a hint of cocoa. On the palate, the wine shows rather restrained tannin in the front of the mouth. All the action takes place at the back of the palate. There, some quite green notes emerge, as well as a certain bitterness that is still rather disruptive at the moment. On the finish, however, the wine is actually quite delicate -- some ethereal and floral aromas come through as well. 92 points -- but definitely lay it down for several more years. It still appears too young. Will more come of it?
In general, I am somewhat uncertain about the young Avaton vintages. It seems to me that there could be a tendency here similar to what I otherwise know from Gerovassiliou's Syrahs or Syrah-based wines: too many angular green notes that require considerable maturation and make it difficult to hit the perfect drinking window. In some cases, the wines pass their peak before they shed their unruly youthfulness.
An additional data point: at a separate tasting in December 2025 I had the Avaton 2020 in my glass (14% ABV), which drinks very easily and was marked by pronounced nougat -- aromatically rounder than the 2021, but likewise still at "only" 92+ points, because the tannin is still very much in the foreground.
Arguing rather against the thesis that the 2021 will develop much further is the Avaton 2017 (also 14.5% ABV) as a case study. We last tasted it in 2021 and there, at the tender age of just four years, had already awarded it 94 points. At that time it presented beautifully clear red fruit on the nose, underpinned by subtle sage notes. On the palate, distinct nougat was added, embedded in wonderfully fine tannins that drifted neither into exaggerated silkiness nor into coarseness. A wine that was fantastic to drink -- only on the finish did the alcohol dominate just a touch too much. Four years later, at the tasting in spring 2025, the wine had changed remarkably. Much of the once so attractive nougat character had dissipated. The nose is now much more narrowly focused on red fruits, plus some vegetal notes such as beetroot and slightly bitter nuances of orange zest or kumquat. On the palate, an extreme concentration of eucalyptus aromas stands out, the likes of which I have rarely experienced in Greek wines -- one would most readily think of a Cabernet from Australia. Overall considerably less aggressive than the 2021, yet no longer quite as filigree as at the first encounter. The alcohol remains relatively noticeable. Ultimately 92 points -- the wine has not evolved in the hoped-for direction.
However: several days after the tasting I re-tasted to see how the wines developed with oxygen exposure. With the 2017, the nougat does in fact return with extended air contact. But it quickly shows oxidative notes and rapidly becomes the lesser choice -- dropping to 90 points. The Avaton 2021, on the other hand, is now not quite as austere and demanding. It shows its juniper, its blackberry, its good structure. So there is certainly reason to hope that in a few years it will climb to 93 or 94 points.