Snapshots from Greece: Assyrtiko Wine from Santorini
Note: Our own Erin Zimmer just returned from ten days eating and drinking her way around Greece and will be sharing her adventures with us all week as Snapshots from Greece. —Ed.
The Sigalas Winery is one of Santorini's best. Photograph by Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen.
When most people think of Greek wines—that is, if they ever think about Greek wines—they think retsina. Sadly, it's been nicknamed alcoholic Pine-Sol since it was first created with pine resin to help boost the shelf life 2,000 years ago. This hasn't been so great for the rest of Greek wines, especially the non-piney, non-sucky ones.
Assyrtiko grapes growing on Santorini.
On Santorini, one of the Cyclades islands and a hot tourist magnet, Assyrtiko grapes grow all over, creating some of Greece's best white wine. People might not notice the grapes with all those distracting black sand beaches and deep-blue waters. You've probably seen a postcard (or watched Mamma Mia or Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). The grapevines were hiding somewhere behind the amazing white sugar cube-shaped architecture built into the cliffs.
Santorini.
It's pretty incredible that Santorini can produce wine, especially since it experienced a volcanic eruption around 1500 B.C., leaving the island all ripped apart. Because of the little rainfall, big winds, and sunny skies, Santorini vintners have been forced to grow the Assyrtiko grapes a certain way. To protect them from the tough natural conditions, the plants are pruned low to the ground in a basket shape, where the protected grapes grow at the center. This means no nifty machine can swing by and pick them all in one clean sweep during harvest season—they have to be hand-plucked.
Paris Sigalas of the Sigalas Winery shows off the Assyrtiko grapes.
Assyrtiko wine usually has a full-bodied, acidic flavor with refreshing aromas, and pairs well with seafood. The island's salty air and natural volcanic soil (made of pumice and lava bits) infuses it with a nice, crisp minerality. About ninety-percent of Santorini's wine-making comes from the Assyrtiko grape, and as it becomes more popular internationally, wineries on mainland Greece have started planting it too, adding Assyrtiko to blends to give them a nice acidic oomph.
Try looking for Assyrtiko varieties from Santorini wineries such as Sigalas, Gaia, and Boutari.
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4 Comments:
Santorini is beautiful. Easily my favourite Greek island.
mrbill1234 at 3:02PM on 07/16/09
Watching a Santorini sunset with friends and several bottles of Assyrtiko wine (the start to a long night) is one of my best travel memories. Bought the bottles from a small wine store where they opened them for us and then wandered through the small alleyways to find a nice spot to watch the sun melt into the sea.
taster at 3:07PM on 07/16/09
We stayed at a hotel in Santorini that was built around a 400 year old wine cave and got to do a wine tasting of Greek wines with their sommelier. It was one of the most memorable nights of my life. Absolutely amazing. I still have a bottle of Nyktheri I need to drink soon. It will be nice to see Greek wines get some more credit in the future.
foodandscience at 4:59PM on 07/16/09
I really like the wines from Boutari. As affirmed red wine drinkers, my family loved some of the whites we tasted. I think we still have a bottle we've been saving...
We went to Santorini in the off-season and really enjoyed the warm hospitality of the island without the tourists. (No black sand beaches for us, but dinner and drinking with the innkeeper and his family? I'd take that any day!)
inothernews at 5:56PM on 07/16/09