2016 Gaia Assyrtiko Thalassitis

WineAlign

• By Michael Godel
  5/21/2017, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (Gaia Wines Thalassitis Santorini, Santorini white) Login and sign up and see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Julia Harding, MW
  4/25/2017, (See more on JancisRobinson.com...)

  (Gaia, Thalassitis Aegean White) Subscribe to see review text.

Decanter

• By Joanna Simon
  Greek Assyrtiko Expert's Choice, 4/12/2017, (See more on Decanter...)

  (Gai'a, Thalassitis Assyrtiko, Santorini, Aegean Islands, Greece, White) Login and subscribe to see review text.

WineAlign

• By John Szabo, MS
  4/6/2017, (See more on WineAlign...)

  (Gaia Wines Thalassitis Santorini, Santorini white) Login and sign up and see review text.

Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Island Wines, 9/14/2017

  (Gaia Thalassitis) Hello friends. Sometimes, life gets in the way of living. The trip gets canceled due to family or postponed because of work and suddenly, you’ve never been to Sicily. Or Australia. Or driven from Napa to Sonoma. That is one of the things I love so much about wine—in a world full of responsibilities that sometimes prevent us from doing all of the things we want to do, wine provides a little getaway. Wine lets us into places that we’ve never been, it introduces us to people we’ve never met, and it fills us with the hope of possibility. And nothing does this better than island wines. Wines built and born by the sea, volcanoes, and thousand-year-old civilizations, island wines are rich in ancient history. They are reminiscent of the places they come from—infuenced by the unique terroir and culture of a land removed from the rest of the world by geography. Today, we have six wines for you from three different islands: Santorini, Sardinia, and Sicily. All of these wines represent the island they call home—and they give the drinker just a small peek into the life they could live there. SANTORINI Santorini is an island steeped in history—from the basket-weaved method by which they grow their grapes (known as koulara) to the ancient vines that still stand without fear of phylloxera (the volcanic soil of Santorini has minimal clay, which prevents the disease from growing). Considering how ancient this region is, it’s almost surprising that it’s still one of Greece’s most exciting wine regions. The relationship between the indigenous grapes of the island, the millennia-old volcanic soil, and the sea mists that water the grapes create wines that are intensely mineral-driven, beautiful acidic, and reminiscent of the sea water that feeds them.Gai’a winery sits on an eastern beach of Santorini, between Kamari and Monolithos, in a renovated tomato factory from 1900. Thalassitis is one of the winery’s signature projects, made from the most famous grape of Santorini, Assyrtiko. This high-acid white grape is strongly influenced by the sea around it, and walks the tightrope between bright and lush bottlings. Wine Advocate: Copyrighted material withheld. Sardinia Between a wild, mountainous interior and the sandy beaches that run along the 1,149 miles of coastline, Sardinia’s soil ranges from actual sea sand to cracked, pebbled granite. These broadly ranging types of earth lend themselves to many different grapes, giving Sardinia a robust and divergent portfolio. From sun-soaked Vermentino to gravely Cannonau (the local name for Grenache), Sardinia’s consistency lies in its island influenced wines. These wines would not exist anywhere else—the microclimate terroir of Sardinia makes them possible.Sicily Sicily’s wine scene has flown surprisingly under the radar despite a history dating back to 750 BC. While much of the region has been used to create bulk wine or marsala cooking wine, there are still plenty of small, boutique wineries making extraordinary juice.  Like most islands, the terroir of Sicily is deeply volcanic, which lends minerality, acidity, and a rustic earthiness to the wines.

RJonWine.com

• By Richard Jennings
  4/6/2017, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 91 points

  (Gaia Assyrtiko Thalassitis) Light yellow color; savory, lemon, oyster jus, chalk nose; tasty, mineral, tart citrus, chalk palate with bright medium-plus acidity; medium-plus finish (13% alcohol)