Olympia Land Estate – Assyrtiko 2019

An Assyrtiko to fall in love with! This wine from PGI Ilia on the Peloponnese was the undisputed star of a blind tasting of the best mainland Assyrtikos. For a moment you might think you're smelling a salty stone. But then you realize: this really has absolutely nothing to do with its stern ancestor from the volcanic island. On the nose, this Assyrtiko is incredibly alluring – yes, even positively disorienting. A wine that will make anyone pause in any blind tasting. Is that resin? Eucalyptus? Surely there must be oak involved! No, an old wine, without a doubt. Plums and herbs, all densely intertwined. On the palate, the rollercoaster continues. The wine ignites in two phases: first there's this bomb of thyme honey that coats the entire mouth. And then a hefty dose of fruit joins in, peeling itself out of that viscous mass with incredible force. Quince, of course, above all. But hey, oxidative can also come with raspberry. All of this is followed by an extremely long, constantly evolving finish. You're so busy shaking your head in disbelief that you only notice the absence of a mineral dimension when the bottle is probably already empty – and that goes even for wine lovers who'd rank pretty high on the drinkability scale. Die-hard Santorini fans will insist it's a label fraud and a different grape variety altogether. And all of this despite the fact that at 15%, this wine is certainly no lightweight. Simply fantastic, what the small Olympia Land Estate winery has conjured up here. Unquestionably phenomenal 95 points! That PGI Ilia is absolutely underrated, and that the winery – after the fires that did not spare the olive grove surrounding the vines – thoroughly deserves this score, can be said with the clearest of consciences – because the panel reached this verdict blind.