Dionysia 2011 - Athens Wine Festival
The Zappion, Athens, Greece
Tasted Saturday, February 12, 2011 by Papies with 960 views
Introduction
http://www.greeka.com/attica/athens/news/events/998.htm
Dionysia Wine festival happens every year in February in Athens ( Locatiosn alternate between The Zappion and Just outside Athens.
It is a great place to get involved into Greek Wine and is a very well organised event.
The Notes below are from the most memorable wines we tried, for better of for worse
Flight 1 (27 Notes)
Closing
Greek Wines keep improving by the day as wine makers learn to master the art and slowly move away from plain table reds and super sweet muscats.
In General our views are
1. Dry Whites - Very nice chardonnays and sauvignons indeed
2. Dry Reds -
Split into 2 - Modern wine makers who overoak to hide flaws and make new world style wines. Some are indeed very nice ( Lazaridi,Alpha,Palivou, Mega Spileo) but loose out any typicity and origin
Traditional wine makers who make wines of typicity. Not all get it right though! Try Parparousis winery for some great examples
3. Desert / Sweet Wines - These are world class and the world is catching up. Speaking with Semeli winery, this year they sold 100% of their beautiful Gewurtz to export.
The vary from the simple and fwd fresh malagouzia to super dense Mavrodaphne (Mega Spilo resrve is def one) and some amazing Muscats ( Parparoussis) and of course Vinsantos that make you cry.
Favorites:
Red Dry , Magic Mountain
White, Alpha Fume
Swet, Alpha Omega, Parparoussis Muscat de Rio Patras, Mega Spileo Mavrodaphne
1989 Argyros Vinsanto 94 Points
Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini
This is the current release in the market by a producer who takes pride in ageing their vinsanto for at least 17yrs. The ageing is worth it and this is an experience for every vinsanto lover. Dark caramel in coloured and very dense and in balance with good tones of chocolate . Simply wonderful and a great discovery 94
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2008 Domaine Costa Lazaridi Merlot Château Julia
Greece, Macedonia, Drama
This is a superb quality wine, very well made and with lots of capacity to age. Unfortunately at the moment is very young with dry tannins but we are convinced given the patience this will be a great wine experience. Drink 5yrs+
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2008 Avantis Estate Agios Chronos 87 Points
Greece, Continental Greece, Evia
Good , reliable producer and one to follow
2008 agios xronos - 92% syrah , rest viognier. forward, easy drinking wine but still with character and depth. Nice sweet core. 87+
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2007 Avantis Estate Syrah Collection
Greece, Continental Greece, Evia
Good , reliable producer and one to follow
2007 Syllogi - The collection is 100% syrah. Still very young but one to look out for and a wine with great track record. Needs time. Not austere though
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2005 Parparoussis Reserve Nemea
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
A nice discovery, humble back to roots wine maker who makes authentic wines with character and typicity. The mavrodaphne grape is worked very well. Not over oaked. His muscat is world class and among the best we have ever tried.
2005 nemea reserve - pure , lots of presence and very nice. Maybe a touch light for a reserve but a very good value wine
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2006 Parparoussis Muscat of Rio Patras 95 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Patras
A nice discovery, humble back to roots wine maker who makes authentic wines with character and typicity. The mavrodaphne grape is worked very well. Not over oaked. His muscat is world class and among the best we have ever tried.
2006 muscat de rion patras - world class and easily among the top 3 Greek desert wines. Apple, orange notes with density on the palate and simply delicious. Superb 95
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2005 Domaine Mega Spileo Grand Cave Red Cuvée
Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia
The discovery of this years dionisia
2005 Ktima, 60pc mavrodaphne 40pc kalavritino.
Nice, dense , good balance of oak helps the 2 local grape varieties blend well and the result is a very nice , elegant wine with typicity that is proud of it's origin. Great to see producers trying to make authentic Greek wines and when the result is like this one it does fill us with pride. 90
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2006 Domaine Mega Spileo Syrah 85 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia
2006 Syrah - light easy, fwd and designed to be enjoyed early 85 at best
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2000 Domaine Mega Spileo Mavrodaphne Reserve 94 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Mavrodaphne of Patras
10yrs from harvest to table. Spends 7yrs in barrel and let to dry with no topping up. Liquer dense, chocolate elements, pure and excellent. Among the best if not the best mavrodaphne we have ever tried. Highly recommended
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2008 Parparoussis Oinari
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
A nice discovery, humble back to roots wine maker who makes authentic wines with character and typicity. The mavrodaphne grape is worked very well. Not over oaked. His muscat is world class and among the best we have ever tried.
2008 oinary - agiorgitiko and mavrodaphne , forward easy drinking but with great character
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2005 Parparoussis
Greece, Peloponnisos, Patras
Parparoussis winery
A nice discovery, humble back to roots wine maker who makes authentic wines with character and typicity. The mavrodaphne grape is worked very well. Not over oaked. His muscat is world class and among the best we have ever tried.
2005 Taos - 100% mavrodaphne
The sweet core of the mavrodaphne ( a grape usually used to make sweet fortified wines) gives this wine a cdp style or priorat. Very deep with a sweet core, very elegant and with typicity. A great discovery
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2005 Domaine Mega Spileo Cabernet Sauvignon 91 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia
Deep, dense with lots of presence. This is a very good wine with presence. Good amount of oak. Lack typicity though. 91
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2010 Alpha Estate Malagousia Axia 85 Points
Greece, Macedonia, Florina
Easy, like a mild muscat , very fresh semi sweet wine great for the summer.
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2007 Alpha Estate Alpha One
Greece, Macedonia, Florina
Blend varies every year, 07 being montepulciano and xinomavro (Negroamaro). Maybe time will help but relatively simple at the moment.
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2009 Alpha Estate Sauvignon Blanc Fumé 90 Points
Greece, Macedonia, Amyndaio
Very good, lots of depth on the palate one to look for
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2006 Lykos Cabernet Sauvignon 87 Points
Greece, Continental Greece, Attica
Very well made but a touch of too much oak takes away the complexity of this wine. Enjoyable still but falls in the same pitfall that lots of modern greek producers make that overuse oak to coverup for not so great crop. Really no need to.
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2008 Nico Lazaridi Chateau Niko Lazaridi
Greece, Macedonia, Drama
Relatively straight forward and easy. Nice wine but not special or deep.
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2009 Nico Lazaridi The Black Sheep
Greece, Macedonia, Drama
Very young still but a nice play on syrah. Well made and with a lot more than just a funky label, could easily be a 90+ wine
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2006 Nico Lazaridi Magiko Vouno - Magic Mountain 92 Points
Greece, Macedonia, Drama
Among the best Greece makes in terms of quality and character. Cab Sauvignon and cab franc so not really Greek origins there but still a big powerful complex wine which can rival it's French cousins. Very well made and very elegant. Watch out as cult status impacts pricing in restaurants.
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2006 Nico Lazaridi Perpetuus 80 Points
Greece, Macedonia, Drama
Cab sauvignon and Sangiovese . Did not appreciate the blend or the style. Stick to magic mountain. Especially for the price this is an overpriced folly..
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2006 Palivou Estate Terra Leone Ammos Reserve
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
One of our favourites and especially the 05s were superb. Modern style, lot of oak and very well made wines full of quality but lack typicity
Ammos - young, dry tannins well made but needs 3years still. Stick to 2005 for the moment
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2007 Palivou Estate Nemea 85 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
One of our favourites and especially the 05s were superb. Modern style, lot of oak and very well made wines full of quality but lack typicity
This estate single vineyardis relatively straight forward and easy. Nice but no magic though
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2005 Palivou Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Terra Leone Single Vineyard Selection
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
One of our favourites and especially the 05s were superb. Modern style, lot of oak and very well made wines full of quality but lack typicity
Cabernet 05 - very smooth and forward , good oak, very modern wine. would you think its Greek? nop
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2005 Palivou Estate Merlot Terra Leone Private Cuvée
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
One of our favourites and especially the 05s were superb. Modern style, lot of oak and very well made wines full of quality but lack typicity
Merlot 05- very young still but with a great future. Needs decanting for now but a shame to open this young. High 80s to low 90s once it matures.
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2008 Antonopoulos Vineyards Chardonnay ANAX 91 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Achaia
08 granted it is young this ( the king as it names stands for) is among the best Chardonnays the country makes and worthy of world standard. Very very nice
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2005 Nemeion Estate Agiorgitiko Hgemon (Sovereign) 92 Points
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
2005 igemon grande reserve - very well balanced, complex , powerful but not austere even in it's youth. Needs decanting but this wine will be ready in minimum 5 years so pls save it for the future. Among the best and a great expression of the local agiorgitiko grape
Superb and true to it's name ( igemon means sovereign). 92+
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2005 Nemeion Estate Reserve
Greece, Peloponnisos, Nemea
2005 nemeion reserve - still some dry tannin as it is very young. Very well made wine from a young winery with great potential. Needs lot of decanting but best beds patience in the cellar
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