Santorini Brewing Company crazy donkey 5.5% ABV

One of my summer highlights was rediscovering Sake as wine. My Japanese friend and I bartered Sake for wine made from indigenous grapes. Now, what has this got in common with fresh beer in these pages? Surprisingly, quite a lot, even a terroir connection.

SBC’s ambitious new venture was founded by a clutch of cosmopolitan partners. The guiding lights as to three, so far, styles of fresh beer are an Austrian consulting brewer, an English marketing guru with a penchant for brewing, and a Greek oenologist. The resident Master Brewer is Boban Krunic, who is Serbian, and Managing Director is the Californian Magda Anderson. I know, this sounds like an introduction to a joke. In fact, this is a serious effort by players brimming with talent and determination. In the current economic gloom, smiles have been wiped off people’s faces in Greece. This effort could not be more timely. Something positive to fuel some passion back into our daily lives.

In search of my hunting terroir, I get to taste unexpected, to say the least, concoctions. A taste apart? A white wine, of sorts, on the island of Evia. It was kept in cask made of Cyprus wood. Taste-wise, let’s call it a medicinal elixir. There is something similar, though more sophisticated, on the island of Lanzarote. As those of you who have followed my writing may know, I have never liked beer. This mass-produced, pasteurized stuff is one-dimensional, lifeless, tasteless. What’s worse, the morning after, I wake up with a soapy palate. Enough said.

This new crazy donkey ale is of limited production. No hype here, all true. Per batch 200 champagne bottles. The wine connection comes through two unexpected sources. This is the world’s first unfiltered, non-pasteurized barley-malt beer primed with Santorini Assyrtiko (2011) must. The wine kinship continues with help from another famous wine producing island, New Zealand. Not in the form of its signature grape, but Sauvin, one the world’s prized New-Zealand-grown hops. As the tasting note reveals, though, there is a similarity in the aromatic and tasting profile.

The back label is no crashing bore of legal requirements. It is informative, entertaining too. Not unlike the people involved in this venture. The witty parting shot is, “HIP HOPPY KICK-ASS ALE. Semantics apart, crazy donkey is the first ale as wine that I know of. SBC’s other two brews are yellow donkey and red donkey. More about those later.

Cloudy orange in colour. Long-lasting frothy head. Hoppy wine notes reminiscent of Sauvignon blanc. The southern-Aegean volcanic juice seems to lurk somewhere in this briny, yeasty, rich cocktail. As improbable as this sounds, it works. This is an unexpectedly fruity ale, with an IPA-ish mid-palate which goes on to a very fruity finish that seems to go on forever. A rarity. Who knows, it may even convert a few of us wine lovers to what Egyptians called “liquid bread”.

Score: 18 / 20

Website: www.santorinibrewingcompany.gr

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24.10.2011


2009
Sigalas Kavalieros

My first recollection of Paris Sigalas is from another life. His ”winery” was the basement of his beach-front house, where he still lives today. He posed, somewhat bewildered, for a portrait shot for my long-standing photographer, Kostantinos Pittas. Located in north-eastern Santorini, this artisan winemaker offers a distinctly different wine style to that of the other wineries on the island, mostly located on the southern slopes of Episkopi, Pyrgos, and Megalochori. Initially, he also sourced grapes from Imerovigli (Greek for “watchtower”, altitude 280 m.), overlooking the Caldera. His Santorini was, and still is, lemony and honeyed.

Summer 2010, visit number 23 to this unique island vineyard, I stopped off again at the Sigalas winery, long ago moved out of the beach-front house. Here, I got a first glimpse of this, then yet-to-be-released, single-vineyard wine. Tasted it from tank: Leesy and quirky, my Moleskin notebook reads, tastes like nothing else.

On my recent visit to Sigalas, I had the opportunity to taste it bottled. My terroir jigsaw puzzle had another piece – or so I thought. Cold sweat gripped me as the realization hit me: Impervious to the Greek economy meltdown, building construction continues unabated on this mother-of-all-terroirs. I lack the time to research public records to establish the number of hectares of this highly regarded vineyard that have disappeared under the cement of a now prime real estate location. We should be grateful to Paris Sigalas for bottling this 2.2-hectare single-vineyard located at Imerovigli. How much longer these vines will survive is another story. I urge all of you fellow terroir boy- and girl-scouts to squirrel some away. Watch it unfold its distinct character and style. One other thing: Focus on the silhouette outline, embossed on the bottle label, of the late Kir Giorgos, the farmer who tended this vineyard for over half a century and gave this place its name. Turn it upside down (it might be easier if you are reading this on a tablet) – clever!

Green tints. Pink grapefruit aroma. Intensely yeasty. Honey and stones on the aftertaste. A full-bodied, bold wine. Very different to any other bone-dry Santorini on the market. More suitable for cold-weather pairing with grilled-meat enjoyment. Carafe it for at least two hours, or give it the refrigerator test by sipping it over a week. There is a lot in there. Best 2011-2017.

Score: 17

For more information, please visit www.sigalas-wine.com

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6.07.2011


2008
La Terra Moschatos Limnou Limnos Organic Wines

Late October. Parched yellow post-summer colours were fading into autumn shades of still life. The light, so lucent in the Aegean, was softer, in ever-changing shades of platinum-grey-blue. For a raft of inexplicable reasons, of all the 14 vineyard islands featured in the forthcoming book, Limnos strikes an inner cord. To say the least, it is different. Not a tourist destination as such. The energy so far unfailingly connects. There is a flow, a dialogue with this volcanic island, reaching all beyond the vineyards and the hard-working, unpretentious farmers I have met over the years doing the rounds.

Ioannis Savvoglou and his partner Pantelis Tsivolas are a breath of fresh air. Greek wine could do with more of their straight-talking, calm professionalism. The current financial crisis gripping the country is a great opportunity for reform. Wine prices have been tumbling and will eventually stabilise after the clear-out to reflect their true market value. For consumers, 2011 will be full of opportunities to broaden their horizons without spending over the top, as the artificial bubble of living beyond one’s means has left the country’s economy in hardly unexpected, long overdue tatters. To their credit, Limnos Organic Wines were never greedy with their pricing. Ever since their inception they have steadily offered value for money.

Recently, three Muscat of Alexandria sweet wines have left a lasting impression. One is Spanish and the other is from Cyprus. The third is the reviewed wine. All three, wonderful in their own right. Highlighting the variety of the Mediterranean profiles of this fragrant grape.

Veteran oenologist Ioannis Savvoglou has for over 20 years made dry to varying levels of sweet Muscat of Alexandria. He knows his way round the island’s scattered vineyards, its best farmers and sites. He was a pioneer in grasping the notion that the island has near perfect climatic conditions for organic farming.  The 2008 vintage produced 4,700 500-ml. bottles. I urge you to get some while stocks last.

One of the islands best terroirs. Bordering a dam . Sandy-clay soil. Single vineyard planted to 35 year old vines. Grapes were left to dessicate on the vines.  Very fine nose, camomile, bee pollen and honeycomb. Minerality. Not cloying apricot mid palate. Brims with pit stone fruit on the persistent finish.  Precice structure.   Serve slightly chilled.

Score: 18/20

For more information please visit www.limnosorganicwines.gr

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28.01.2011