for curious, open-minded wine lovers
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2007
Giniets Cabernet Sauvignon Rossiu di Munte Katogi
2008
Syrah – Traminer Rossiu di Munte Katogi Averoff
2005
Floara di Munte 2005 Methode Traditionnelle Katogi Averoff
Giniets Cabernet Sauvignon Rossiu di Munte Katogi
Early October, Metsovo. It has been a strange spring and summer, especially in north-western Greece. Unusually high rainfall and cooler weather, which was even more accentuated up here in the Pindos. Just as the Katogi new wine bar opened in July, daytime temperatures dropped to+7 C! Short bursts of heat spells never materialised. Hence, autumn colours of infinite variations of yellow, brown and rust are, less pronounced. As I write these words, the mist is thick over the surrounding mountains. It is pouring down. In the Katogi steep hillside vineyards only the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are still on the vines. They will be harvested around mid to late October. Quantity up here is a guessing game. Beyond weather vagaries, a further culprit comes in the guise of a four-legged creature: the brown bear, native to Pindos. Bears have already taken their share of the earlier-ripening aromatic Traminer and Pinot Noir. They do not return for the CS, until acidity levels drop and the skin of this ubiquitous grape is less tannic.
Yet, the bear issue goes beyond the vineyard. Their natural habitat has been interrupted by the newly-finished Egnatia freeway. The insufficient provision of safe passages for the animals and proper fencing has caused serious accidents. Electric fencing is now to be installed. This solution is not financially viable for the Katogi vineyards. Annual losses run upwards of 15-20% of the harvest.
Two new entries have been added to the promising native red Vlahiko and Pinot Noir in the Rossiu di Munte series. These limited-production wines are only available at cellar-door sales. So if you venture to this mountain range you may glimpse a bear or two. Apparently, a mother and cub were captured on a mobile phone camera crossing a paved road within sight of the vineyard one mid-summer afternoon. Though there are several Greek Syrah-Viogniers on the scene, this variation with Traminer is a first, to my understanding . Though ever-demanding Greek-wine lovers seem to have turned their backs in numbers to most Cabernet Sauvignon-based or varietal wines, Syrah is their new sweetheart non-indigenous grape. Not a surprising change, as there are several Syrah vineyards with wonderful vins de terroir emerging in diverse soils, altitudes and latitudes.
2007 Giniets Cabernet Sauvignon Rossiu di Munte Katogi
A vineyard selection of the first-planted, now 40-year-old CS vines. Tobacco leaf. Reminiscent of the “darker” character of my personal favourite Cabernet Franc. Cedar. Mineral-laden, with schist to the fore. Crushed red currants. Tight-grained tannins. More mineral soil and cask, smokey notes. Concentrated. Dormant. Carafing recommended. Best 2011-2018.
Score: 17.5/20
For more information please visit: www.katogihotel.gr
For more Katogi reviews please go to Tasting – Epiros
See Video: The Katogi Winery and Wine Bar in the Pindos
13.11.2009
2008
Syrah – Traminer Rossiu di Munte Katogi Averoff
Early October, Metsovo. It has been a strange spring and summer, especially in north-western Greece. Unusually high rainfall and cooler weather, which was even more accentuated up here in the Pindos. Just as the Katogi new wine bar opened in July, daytime temperatures dropped to+7 C! Short bursts of heat spells never materialised. Hence, autumn colours of infinite variations of yellow, brown and rust are, less pronounced. As I write these words, the mist is thick over the surrounding mountains. It is pouring down. In the Katogi steep hillside vineyards only the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are still on the vines. They will be harvested around mid to late October. Quantity up here is a guessing game. Beyond weather vagaries, a further culprit comes in the guise of a four-legged creature: the brown bear, native to Pindos. Bears have already taken their share of the earlier-ripening aromatic Traminer and Pinot Noir. They do not return for the CS, until acidity levels drop and the skin of this ubiquitous grape is less tannic.
Yet, the bear issue goes beyond the vineyard. Their natural habitat has been interrupted by the newly-finished Egnatia freeway. The insufficient provision of safe passages for the animals and proper fencing has caused serious accidents. Electric fencing is now to be installed. This solution is not financially viable for the Katogi vineyards. Annual losses run upwards of 15-20% of the harvest.
Two new entries have been added to the promising native red Vlahiko and Pinot Noir in the Rossiu di Munte series. These limited-production wines are only available at cellar-door sales. So if you venture to this mountain range you may glimpse a bear or two. Apparently, a mother and cub were captured on a mobile phone camera crossing a paved road within sight of the vineyard one mid-summer afternoon. Though there are several Greek Syrah-Viogniers on the scene, this variation with Traminer is a first, to my understanding . Though ever-demanding Greek-wine lovers seem to have turned their backs in numbers to most Cabernet Sauvignon-based or varietal wines, Syrah is their new sweetheart non-indigenous grape. Not a surprising change, as there are several Syrah vineyards with wonderful vins de terroir emerging in diverse soils, altitudes and latitudes.
Purple-blue rimmed, dark. Initially reductive. Opens up to florality. A grind of Malabar pepper. With more aeration, violet and tar. Silky tannins with a vinous core. Layered. Just enough cask-derived tannins. A juicy, hedonistic wine. Best 2010-2014.
Score: 17/20
For more information please visit: www.katogihotel.gr
For more Katogi reviews please go to Tasting – Epiros
See Video: The Katogi Winery and Wine Bar in the Pindos
13.11.2009
2005
Floara di Munte 2005 Methode Traditionnelle Katogi Averoff
The market is awash with Champagnes, Prosecchi, featherlight Asti Muscats, even Aussie sparkling Shiraz. So what’s happening on the home front? Rhodes, Mantinia, Amyndeo and Zitsa sparklers have been around for almost 50 years now. Curiously, investment in this underdeveloped category has been lacking. Surely someone must have spotted this lucrative niche!
Have just spent two days tasting the streamlined range and a peek into the future, up north at Katogi Averoff, the pioneering boutique winery and now hotel in Metsovo, which lies almost in the middle of the Pindos mountain range. There was thick fog on the Katara Pass and snow on the higher elevations.
Dijon graduate oenologist Dimitri Ziannis is a man of few words. His carefully chosen comments are factual and candid. While quizzed about the 2006 Pinot Noir herbaceous notes, he mentions the rains of that vintage and that the holy grail of grapes was not as phenolically ripe as the 2007, which is perhaps the most promising of the tiny in presence very fine grape now in cooler climate Greece.
Back in 2004, he sought the advice of the Zitsa specialist and respected colleague Vassilis Vaimakis to identify one of the finest of the Debina grape farmers. The 2005 vintage was terrific in this cooler region in the north-western corner of the highly fragmented Greek vineyard. Harvest took place on October 3. The wine was kept on its fine lies for 5 months. It was then bottled with the addition of liqueur de tirage to undergo a secondary fermentation. It was aged for 24 months prior disgorging and corking in spring of 2008.
Quantities may not be large here, but qualitatively this exploratory effort has been a revelation. The mousse in a flute shaped glass is initially medium small. A few minutes later the sparkles become smaller beads . The carbon dioxide is soft, not metallic and harsh, something that plagues other Greek sparkling wines. The aroma is balanced, with an alternating yeasty creaminess and a nod towards the non-muscaty terpenes of Debina. It is elegantly balanced and, despite the residual sugar of 6 gr./l., finishes bone dry. Alcohol is 11.8% ABV. The name? Local Vlach dialect for: Flower of the Mountain.
If the grape sourcing can be expanded there are plans for a little more to go round. The Floara di Munte 2005 is, yet again, indisputable proof that the location of the vineyard and its farming practises do play such an important role in any wine, even if it is made using the methode traditionnelle, which is how Champagne is made.
Score: 17/20
For more information please see: www.katogihotel.gr
Greece distributor: www.karoulias.gr
14.02.2009
Wine geography
