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9/15/2023 - thesternowl wrote: 92 Points
2023 Greek Adventure; 9/11/2023-9/22/2023 (Crete, Milos, Athens): Poured into a decanter about 30min prior to service. The 2018 Thymiopoulos Vineyards “Kayafas” is one of their single-vineyard expressions of Xinomavro. The fruit is sourced from their lowest altitude vineyard, sees extended maceration (40 days); partially whole cluster. It pours a beautiful deep ruby/purple color with a near opaque core. Medium viscosity with very light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is very pretty with notes of strawberries, tart cherries, plums, dried green herbs, stony earth minerals and some subtle warm spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins and medium+ acid. The notes from the nose are confirmed. Alcohol is medium. The finish is long. While certainly unique, it has one foot in Burgundy and one foot in Piemonte. A marvelous pairing with seared duck breast with beetroot risotto.
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6/17/2023 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION wrote: 92 Points
Good but a step down from the Vrana Petra. Again very Spanish. Blind I’d be thinking Mencia or Ribeira Sacra blends but color density of oaked Barolo. Medium to medium plus bodied with sour cherry, blackberry, iodine, mineral, anise and dusty earth. Good now but can be held for several years.
This is likely the best Greek producer and region at the moment.
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6/1/2023 - Papies wrote: 91 Points
Young and definitely needs time and tasted side by side with its older sister ( Vrana Petra 2018 - Papies 94) who out classed this. Soft, silky and impressive winemaking here but also lighter, more welcoming and just lacking a bit of depth of flavour and complexity . Impressive winemaking ( probably the best Greece has to offer) and made with a very soft and elegant hand. A beautiful wine and an easy 91-92 and with a decent life ahead.
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5/17/2023 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points
100% biodynamically farmed Xinomavro from the 45-yo Kayafas vineyard in the comune of Trilofos, located at the altitude of 180 m above sea level. 80% of the grapes are destemmed, 20% vinified in whole bunches. Fermented spontaneously, macerated with the skins for 40 days. Aged for 12 months in 2nd-use 500-liter French oak demi-muids. 13,5% alcohol. Lot number L150921. 13,5% alcohol.
Somewhat translucent and quite youthful dark ruby color with a slightly evolved, dull maroon hue. The nose feels surprisingly sweetish and polished with aromas of ripe black raspberries and sweet black cherries, some vanilla tones, a little bit of toasty oak spice, light juicy nuances of dark plums, a hint of roasted meat and a fragrant touch of cloves. The wine feels ripe, juicy and sinewy on the palate with a moderately full body and somewhat sweet-toned flavors of black raspberries, some fresh black cherries, a little bit of vanilla, light stony mineral notes, a toasty hint of mocha oak and a touch of sweet red plums. The overall feel is pretty structured, thanks to the rather high acidity and quite assertive and grippy tannins. The finish is ripe, juicy and quite noticeably grippy with a long aftertaste of sweet black cherries and red plums, some leathery tones, a little bit of vanilla and cloves, light mocha oak tones, a hint of meaty umami and a touch of balsamic richness.
A serious and quality-driven Xinomavro, but I was honestly surprised how polished and oaky this wine seemed for a) a Thymiopoulos wine; b) for a wine that has not seen any new oak - at least according to the specs. The fruit intensity and sense of structure is definitely on point here, but with the ripe, sweet-toned edge of the fruit that gets somewhat accentuated by the toasty oak nuances and hints of vanilla, the wine still feels a bit awkward to me. However, as the wine seems pretty much built for aging, I can see this wine benefiting greatly from additional years in a cellar. While a nice wine in its own right, this wine was still a step or a few behind from the 2018 vintage of Vrana Petra that we tasted at the same time. While this Kayafas showed a bit more tannic structure than Vrana Petra, it otherwise didn't seem to reach the same level of harmony, depth and finesse. However, had this wine shown less obvious oak influence, it might've been my favorite over Vrana Petra!
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