Manousakis Winery — Nostos Syrah 2020

Few wines divide opinion quite like the Nostos Syrah from Manousakis, the Cretan estate founded by Ted Manousakis after his return from the USA and planted with Rhône varieties on the slopes of the Lefka Ori near Vatolakkos – "Nostos" means homecoming, and today his daughter Alexandra runs the organically farmed, unirrigated winery. Yiannis Karakasis once named the 2014 a contender for the best Syrah in Greece, while Pavlos Gegas and Julia Harding positively penalise its markedly reductive style. Gegas rated the 2017 at 85, the 2018 at just 83 points; the 2020, however, he lifted to 87, and Julia Harding raised her score from the meagre 14.5 out of 20 she had given the 2018 to 16 out of 20 for the 2020.

That fits the vintage, because as a year 2020 was very good on Crete, balanced and classic: healthy, ripe grapes from a warm-dry but trouble-free season in which the higher elevations preserved freshness, distinctly more stable than the heat-stressed 2021. One might therefore expect the wine to keep up easily with the 2021, if not surpass it.

The 2017 I had loved in 2023, at six years of age, and noted at 96 points, well above the 85 Gegas gave it. All the more eager was I for the critic-praised 2020, which I have now tasted in a vertical alongside the 2021. And it did not convince me. On the nose a touch more fruit does come through than in the 2021, but on the palate the alcohol immediately pushes to the fore, burning and dominating on the finish, joined by charcoal in the second half, a little curry on the attack, or rather silicone and rubber. The fruit is completely buried beneath it. The tannin is broader than in the 2021 and less enlivening, coating the teeth but not inviting you to drink, and again and again giving room to these unpleasantly reductive notes. It is coarser on top of that, the wine tastes of more extract, the oak shows more strongly, and on the finish there is even a hint of raisin, that touch of overripeness.

As much as the vintage and the critics speak in its favour, here the Nostos tips, for me, in exactly the direction that lets me thoroughly understand the sceptics of this wine. That Gegas of all people went higher, at 87, than for the 2017 I liked so much at 96, is beyond me. At around 30 to 33 euros and 14.5% alcohol, this is 92 at most, more likely 91 points for me.