Winemaker Notes
Pair with “fruit de mer” dishes, grilled fishes, eastern gastronomy and pastas.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Sauvignon Blanc is unoaked and comes in at 13% alcohol. Opening with some delicacy, it also then provides all that Sauvignon grass and green while surrounding an elegant mid-palate with big hits of acidity. It is rather green–it is classic Sauvignon. It eventually shows rather good concentation, too. Its fresh feel, all that zing and zest, makes it particularly juicy this year, as it dribbles the fruit over the palate. It remains persistent. This is a pretty consistent bottling at this point and one of my perennial summer favorites. This is perhaps the best yet. Even so, it may have been overshadowed by the fine performance from the Malagousia this issue. It is a good problem to have. It is also a fine value.
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Wine Enthusiast
Spicy and fresh aromas lead this elegant but accessible white from Florina. Tropical fruit flavors are round and layered but the wine has a good spice and mineral mix. A great wine for the table?lots of food-pairing options here.
Capable of a vast array of styles, Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp, refreshing variety that equally reflects both terroir and varietal character. Though it can vary depending on where it is grown, a couple of commonalities always exist—namely, zesty acidity and intense aromatics. This variety is of French provenance. Somm Secret—Along with Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc is a proud parent of Cabernet Sauvignon. That green bell pepper aroma that all three varieties share is no coincidence—it comes from a high concentration of pyrazines (herbaceous aromatic compounds) inherent to each member of the family.
A picturesque Mediterranean nation with a rich wine culture dating back to ancient times, Greece has so much more to offer than just retsina. Between the mainland and the country’s many islands, a wealth of Greek wine styles exists, made mostly from Greece’s plentiful indigenous varieties. After centuries of adversity after Ottoman rule, the modern Greek wine industry took off in the late 20th century with an influx of newly trained winemakers and investments in winemaking technology.
The climate—generally hot Mediterranean—can vary a bit with latitude and elevation, and is mostly moderated by cool maritime breezes. Drought can be an issue for Greek wine during the long, dry summers, sometimes necessitating irrigation.
Over 300 indigenous grapes have been identified throughout Greece, and though not all of them are suitable for wine production, future decades will likely see a significant revival and refinement of many of these native Greek wine varieties. Assyrtiko, the crisp, saline Greek wine variety of the island of Santorini, is one of the most important and popular white wine varieties, alongside Roditis, Robola, Moschofilero, and Malagousia. Muscat is also widely grown for both sweet and dry wines. Prominent red wine varieties include full-bodied and fruity Agiorghitiko, native to Nemea; Macedonia’s savory, tannic Xinomavro; and Mavrodaphne, used commonly to produce a Port-like fortified wine in the Peloponnese.