2009
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

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1.09.2010


2000
Santorini Canava Argyrou

All upcoming regions have seminal tastings. Some are better publicised, others less so. In the not too distant 2000, at a press tasting in London organised by Steve Daniel, then Buying and Marketing director at Oddbins and now at Novum, he placed “blind”, last in a line-up of Chardonnay tasting, a ringer. “Chablis on steroids” was one explicit comment.  The wine?  A 1999 oak-fermented Santorini  Argyros.
On a recent stay on the island of Thera, better known internationally by its medieval Latin name, Santorini, I tasted several older vintages, with Mattheos Argyros, the fourth generation of this top-notch address.  We looked at 2006, 2000, and 1997. The 2006 was a mere baby, and the 1997 was reductive.  It was the 2000 that showed best.  It struck me as the closest this piece of volcanic rock in the southern Aegean will ever be stylistically to Puligny Montrachet, with a hugely surprising nod to the Middle Mosel. Over an hour or so, I savoured it.  It just got better.  Holding up beautifully to the last drop. There was some sea urchin lurking in my fluffy risotto. This 2000 Santorini held its own against the onslaught of the rich in iodine sea urchin froth, even rising to the crisp and sweet marathoriza (finnochio).
Beyond the sheer pleasure of sharing this rarity with friends, at Perivoli restaurant, the telling factor of this hypothetical cross, where Burgundy meets the thoroughbred purity of Santorini, was that it was tank fermented. No oak, but time in bottle, in a humid cool cellar at the Argyros estate.  Cork was in great shape too. The very same wine, a blend of Episkopi and Pyrgos vineyards, continues today under the recently new label:  2009 Assyrtiko Santorini  Argyros.
Initially shy. Slowly opening up to a subtle hazelnut aroma. Whiff of the saline minerality and bracing acidity with which these wines are so blessed. Revisiting the glass: petrol and honey on the ever expanding aromatic complexity which follows through on a very long, textured palate. Supple, classy minerality, wrapped in a “gentler”, bone-dry, linear finish. All fronts in complete unison. Best 2010-2014?
Score: 19/20
For more information please visit: www.estate-argyros.com
Greece distribution: www.genkacomm.gr
USA: www.winebow.com

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7.07.2010


2009
Sigalas Santorini

20.00 hours. King Ra was just about to disappear into the pink-grey of the Aegean. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a paraglider hovering majestically over the Caldera. With the thermal bouncing off the volcanic rock, he occasionally went into in a holding pattern resembling number 8. This Caldera sighting of the bird-man swooping over the whitewashed domes and orange-purple sky was new to me. Improvisation struck, a plan was hatched. To drive towards this modern-day Icarus and follow him to his landing spot. Hopefully, to get a comment on what it is like flying off the Caldera, to ask him about his bird’s-eye view take on the vineyards. Who knows? He may even appreciate wine. Then the plan went terribly wrong: The cell-phone went off with news of change of address for our supper rendezvous. By the time I was back on track, the bird-man had flown overland to Faros (Akrotiri), where he became a hazy blur before I eventually lost sight of him. If I am to bag the bird-man, I will have to check wind forecasts on sailing websites.

This Caldera scene was still vivid when in the kitchen of our beach-front taverna we had gone through the Greek ritual of selecting ‘’our victims’’. I was now faced with two large glass-door refrigerators. In them, a varied selection of the island’s bone-dry whites and an assortment of other Greek wines. I pointed the 2009 Sigalas to the bearded taverna owner, whose elongated craggy looks remind me of a French actor whose name has shamelessly joined my ever-growing pantheon of “anonymous” heroes.

The 2008 Santorini vintage was good. As were the 2005 and the 2007, though not a match for the exceptional 2006. Perhaps the 2009 will match it, or surpass the 2006. By summer 2011 a clear picture will emerge of how it stacks up. (See Articles: The 2009 Vintage Report). Evenings are not the best time for review. Mornings are far more suited to deconstructing a wine. Yet, despite the day’s fatigue and fast-dropping adrenalin, this 2009 Sigalas Santorini shone like a beacon. It is still going through the motions, heading for its starting point. From the very first sip, it was lively and complete, if a little subdued. Cellar this wine. It will reward your patience. Look at it periodically and (re)-discover a great terroir of the Greek vineyard.

Platinum and green tints. Floral, reminiscent of vines flowering. Seamlessly flows on into aromas of flint and green tea. Fireworks of crisp minerality kicking in with a lemony, stony, layered palate. Very long, refined, classy aftertaste. A saline iodine postscriptum. In “reading” the empty glass, a lesson in expression(s) of wine minerality unfolds. Best as of 2011-2018.

Score:  18.5/20

For more details please visit: www.sigalas-wine.com

Belgium: www.pasqualinno.be

China: www.asianbeveragecompany.com

USA: www.diamondwineimporters.com

www.frederickwildman.com

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15.06.2010