Santorini Cuvee No. 15 Hatzidakis
Market forces demand custom-made wines. This applies even to niche players like Greece. The Hatzidakis Cuvee No. 15 was made for the French market. Paris-based importer Yiorgos Ioannidis, who is tireless in his endeavours to promote hand-crafted wines, ended up sharing some of it with a France-based Japanese sourcing agent. The usually reticent Japanese were smitten by this wine, as well as by the Ghi ke Uranos Naoussa 2007, also reviewed in these pages. “ What a sense of placeness” was the terse, Far-East utterance of approval.
Haridimos Hatzidakis has been through a rough patch. He is fighting his way back. He spent time this past spring talking up this and his other wines with Parisian clients who were thrilled to meet this shy Cretan. He was on good form when I recently saw him on the island. This off-the-beaten-path Santorini was one of the few bottles to take with me, as I wanted to taste it from afar. It ended up in an impromptu tasting of various Greek wines at 1600 m. altitude in the Swiss Alps. Mountain biking and long walks had sharpened the senses.
The 2009 Hatzidakis wines were chiefly made by Apostolos Thimiopoulos, whose above-mentioned Naoussa rocked the sleepy appellation, resting on her past glories. He exceptionally, and as a one-off, helped out a colleague in need. Nice. For the 2010 vintage Helias Roussakis(ex Sigalas) has joined Haridimos Hatzidakis.
Cuvee No. 15 is a blend of grapes from three different organically farmed vineyards. Thimiopoulos adds, “It was a gamble. Wild yeast ferment and minimum intervention. It was left in a corner; it turned out beautifully’’. There was no sulphur added. The 2009 harvest conditions were exceptional. The cooler nights preserved the crunchy freshness of the near-perfect grapes. You are getting ahead of me. This micro–cuvee, is very much in orange wine category. It makes sense, in such a top-notch vintage, to go for it in this style, currently undergoing revival, of esoteric wines with a cult following.
Hazy, golden-copper orange. Starts off a little dull. After aerating, flint stone and acacia honey. Raw quince? Tannic core, honeycomb. Punchy minerality picks up from the mid palate. Compact, bone-dry, mineral, very , very long, persistent finish. Label states 14.5% (tastes like 15.5%ABV). A more modern version of 1990’s Nyhteri from Vourvoulos. The sheer volume and pronounced lively acidity, with a savoury umami parting shot, are memorable. It will continue to evolve, eventually resembling Jura vin jaune. Best 2010-2015.
Score: 18/20
France agent email: oenos.fpl@free.fr
1.09.2010
