Greek Chic - A fine wine tutored tasting with Demetri Walters MW
Berry Bros & Rudd, London
Tasted Monday, June 2, 2014 by Papies with 767 views
Introduction
Dimitri Walters MW, the Hellenic Specialist at BBR presented a very interesting flight of Greek wines. Focused on the unique grapes and styles of the Hellenic World, mostly from the islands, he tried to show the out of ordinary yet “special” and distinct grapes and wines. As usual the tasting was of Oxbridge level, BBR style to the maximum.
Flight 1 - Some Unique whites (5 Notes)
Flight 2 - The Reds (3 Notes)
All difficult grapes just starting to be understood
Flight 3 - The Sweets: (3 Notes)
The original wines made of the passimento method, sun dried grapes. Vin Santo moved to Tuscany only when the Venetians lost control of the Greek Isles to the Ottomans.
Closing
We have this theory, Greece makes excellent sweet wines who can be world class, very good whites and relatively average reds. Well it was in line with the above but good to see the reds making a comeback.
2012 Diamantakis Winery Vidiano 85 Points
Greece, Crete, Heraklion, Peza
Quite a distinctive wine. As if it was made in an oxidative way(but it wasn’t) , with a bitter feel on the finish, at times reminded us of vin jaune, but with a good sweet core and bitterness where we expected oxidation. Not our style 85
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2012 Lyrarakis Dafni 86 Points
Greece, Crete
Quite an aromatic nose, no oak here, good texture, firm wine raised in stainless steel. Good natural acidity, aggressive wine on the palate. A good wine for a variety of food, pleasant but lacks complexity. Did we really get the feel of bay leaf or was the name of the wine leading us to that? 86
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2012 Lyrarakis Thrapsathiri Armi 89 Points
Greece, Crete
A good find and a wine we would look to buy for sure. Rare type of grape here and only the 3rd vintage ever made. Made with a lot of skin contact and has quite a pronounced colour. Fat on the palate, light oxidative style, however no harsh edges here. Good intensity. Very unique wine but at times it felt more interesting than nice. A lot of capacity to age too. 89
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2013 Sigalas Assyrtiko Santorini 88 Points
Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini
In our limited exposure to Greek wines, by far the most interesting of grapes from the country. This 14.5% un-oaked example is the sharp and pure expression, prompt harvest maintained the acidity and freshness of the wine, light aromatic nose, light in colour. Light grassy at times. Made in the traditional training style of kouloura for the vines (basket form) on its own rootstocks. A wine to drink sooner than later. Pretty solid. 88 (Andreas 90 / Nicol 86)
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2011 Hatzidakis Winery Assyrtiko Nykteri 90 Points
Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini
Dark in colour, richer than the usual steely assyrtiko, fuller harvested at good ripeness and vinified straight away thought the night (hence the Nykteri designation – nikta = night) and thus has kept its acidity. Light oxidative notes, Light residual sugar here and has seen oak, but the wine dominates the oak not the other way around. An interesting twist to the assyrtiko grape. Concentrated and with good ageing capacity. Nicol 88 with potential / Andreas 91
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