Saturday, November 29, 2014

Report from ... New Wines of Greece: Eternally Modern - May 12, 2014

A room filled with 106 Greek wines from across that country and made with indigenous and international grape varieties, in both red and white offerings ... it's a lot of wine and there's a lot of interesting stuff being poured - the following wines were my favourite wines from the day.

Domaine Costa Lazardi 2012 Amethystos White
grapes:  Sauvignon Blanc, Assyrtiko, Semillon
Nice freshness and grassy tendency with good acidity (*** 1/2+)
Domaine Costa Lazardi 2010 Amethystos Red
grapes:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Limnio
Smooth and well-balanced, showing red and black fruit
with white pepper notes on the finish (****)

Domaine Costa Lazardi 2010 Oenodea Red
grapes:  Cabernet Sauvignon, Agiorgitiko, Syrah
Good spice, plum and black cherry (****)
Alpha Estate 2009 Estate Red
grapes:  Syrah, Xinomavro, Merlot
Cocoa, cherry, raspberry with touches of herbal (****+)

Alpha Estate 2009 Xinomavro Reserve Old Vines
grape:  Xinomavro
Wonderful complexity with an explosion of fruit: blackberry, plum,
blueberry plus vanilla, tarry and smoky - mouthfilling and lovely (**** 1/2)
Boutari 2009 Naoussa
grape:  Xinomavro
oak dried cherry that proves to be nice and pleasant (****)
Boutari 2013 Santorini
grape:  Assyrtiko
Starts off with an easy drinking sweetness but with a dry finish (*** 1/2+)

Kir Yianni Estate 2010 Ramnista
grape:  Xinomavro
Smoky and woodsy with blackberry fruit
all with a nice cherry-woodsy finish (****)
Santo Wines 2013 Santorini Assyrtiko
grape:  Assyrtiko
Quite the quiet nose there's a nice peach pit / wet stone note to the palate (*** 1/2+)
Domaine Gerovassiliou 2013 Estate White
grape:  Assyrtiko, Malagousia
Pear, peach pit and grapefruit zest all nicely balanced (*** 1/2+)
Domaine Gerovassiliou 2011 Avaton
grape:  Mavrotragano, Limnio, Mavroudi
Coffee and cherry mix on the nose and palate making this wine real inviting (****)
Domaine Spiropoulos 2009 Nemea
grape:  Agiorgitiko
Smoked cherry with a mocha finish (*** 1/2+)
Gaia Wines 2012 Agiorgitiko by Gaia
grape:  Agiorgitiko
Bright cherry fruit that's fresh and lively with good acidity;
no oak is used in this wine and it is fruity and yummy (****)
Lantides 2012 Nemea
grape:  Agiorgitiko
Black cherry and vanilla with a gentle spice from the 14 months in French oak,
it's rich and quite fruity (****+)

Zacharias 2010 Erythros
grapes:  Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon
Nice dark cherry, blueberry, mocha, vanilla,
cinnamon with a peppery-spicy finish (****)


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