Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 74

Mercouri Estate

Vassilis
Xxxxxxx
Kanellakopoulos
Xxxxxx

G REECE
XXXXXXXX
S ANTORINI

Domaine Sigalas
Founded: 1864
Winemaker/viticulturist: Vassilis
Founded: XXXX
Kanellakopoulos
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist:
Owners: Vassilis and Christos
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
Kanellakopoulos
Acres owned: XXX
Acres owned: 40
Cases produced: XXXXXX
Annual production: 10,000 cases
Estate grown: 100%
Estate grown: 100% except for
Importer: Xxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxx, XX
Foloi white
Website: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Importer: Athenee Importers &
Distributors, Hempstead, NY
Website: mercouri.gr

Xxxxxxx
Paris Sigalas
Xxxxxx

Founded: 1991
Winemaker:
Paris Sigalas
Founded: XXXX
Viticulturist:
Evi Kousera
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist:
Owners:
Paris
Sigalas & Stelios
XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX
Boutaris
Acres owned: XXX
Acres
91 (50
planted)
Casesowned:
produced:
XXXXXX
Annual
production:
25,000
cases
Estate grown: 100%
Estate
grown:
20%
Importer: Xxxxx Xxxxx, Xxxxx, XX
Importer:
Diamond Importers,
Website: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Chicago, IL
Website: sigalas-wine.com

On the far western edge of the Peloponnese, in a wine region nearly all its own,
Mercouri Estate puts out some of the most original wines in all of Greece.

Francophile mathematician-philosopher Paris Sigalas turns out Santorini's
most elegant, sun-filled wines.

The Italian Connection: In 1864, Theodoros Mercouri invested the
money he'd made trading cotton in Egypt in 148 acres of land on the
western edge of the Peloponnese. Years before, living in northern
Italy, he'd become enamored of refosco, so he imported some vine
cuttings and planted the first single-variety vineyard in the country.
Soon after he built a Tuscan-style villa and a dock below the winery
where ships could load barrels of "mercouri," as his refosco came to
be known. When fourth-generation Vassilis and Christos Kanellakopoulos took over in 1985, they preserved two acres of the original
vines while planting new clones, including vines propagated from
refosco dal peduncolo rosso they imported from Friuli, which they
find ripens more evenly. That clone provides the base for the 2012
Domaine Mercouri Cava. Matured 18 months in new barrels, it's
made to age, but even now, with time in the glass for the oak aromas
to blow off, the wine channels not so much Italy as the scent of the
estate, from the bay laurel that lines the vineyards to the sea spray in
the air-and maybe even the lamb roasting on a spit in the garden.

A French Bent: When Paris Sigalas landed in Paris, France, to study
math in the 1980s, he was smitten. The city was a far cry from
Pireaus, the busy Athens port where he grew up. And the wine served
at the cafés was a lot better, too; he particularly liked white Burgundy. When Sigalas returned to Greece, he took a new interest in
his family's vineyards in Santorini, suspecting that the local assyrtiko
could channel place as well as chardonnay. By 1991, he was ferrying
between Athens and Santorini, teaching math and making wine.

Mavro + Daphne: Since the Kanellakopoulos brothers took
over, Vassilis has paid particular attention to the local
mavrodaphne, a grape named for its dark color (mavro)
(
and scents of bay leaf (daphne).
It adds a beguiling, dark(
herb richness to refosco's tangy high-acid crunch in the
domaine's basic red. The effect in the 2014 is mouthwatering, the herbal notes and sausage-like meatiness calling out for a charcuterie plate.
White Options: Kanellakopoulos began buying roditis
from his neighbors to make Foloi, the house white,
while planting white varieties from other parts of
Greece, like robola from Cephalonia and assyrtiko
from Santorini. His 2015 Kallisto, a blend of those two
varieties, suggests that Kanellakopoulos is on to something: With robola's roundness and assyrtiko's acidity,
the wine strikes an appealing balance between fullness
and freshness, with the potential to age. -T.Q.T.

TOP-SCORING WINES

Oia: A self-taught winemaker, Sigalas started by focusing on the vineyards. He was one of the first in Santorini to move to organic farming, and to zero in on individual parcels, such as Kavalieros, which he
now bottles on its own. This year, to demonstrate just how varied is
Santorini's terroir, he's introducing seven micro-cuvées, their sources
ranging from warm, low-altitude sites like Oia to Pyrgos, the highest
point on the island. For pure pleasure, however, reach for the Santorini Assyrtiko, which builds on the island's varied terroirs to present
a wine that captures Santorini both in its chalky austerity and generous sun. The 2015 is, at first, severe and savory, then it turns juicy
and round, the citrusy fruit almost honeyed in its intensity.
Delicious now, it will age well for the next decade.
Oak: Most of Santorini's vineyards are in the center and
southern end of the island, while Sigalas is on a gentle,
warm slope on the north side. The ripeness he gets
here is often reflected in the relative roundness of his
wines and their ability to handle a spell in oak barrels.
In 2015, his oak-fermented Santorini is particularly
impressive, the fruit unusually concentrated thanks
to an April windstorm that reduced yields by 35 percent. The wood is not so much a flavor as a structural
component that helps to build assyrtiko's lemony fruit
into rounder notes of pear and orange peel, and supports a wealth of chalk and spice. While the wine needs
another five years in bottle to show its best, it's already
impressively integrated. -T.Q.T.

TOP-SCORING WINES

XX '12
93
'XX Letrini
Xxxxxxxx
Domaine
Xxxxxxx
Mercouri
Xxxxx $XX
Cava
(XX/XX)
$50 (8/16)

XX '15
94
'XX Santorini
Xxxxxxxx Fermented
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx
in Oak
$XXBarrel
(XX/XX)
$30 (8/16)

XX '14
91
'XX Letrini
Xxxxxxxx
Domaine
Xxxxxxx
Mercouri
Xxxxx $XX
$36(XX/XX)
(8/16)

XX '15
93
'XX Santorini
Xxxxxxxx Assyrtiko
Xxxxxxx Xxxxx
$28 (8/16)
$XX (XX/XX)

XX '15
90
'XX Ilia
Xxxxxxxx
KallistoXxxxxxx
$21 (8/16)
Xxxxx $XX (XX/XX)

XX '06
91
'XX Xxxxxxxx
Santorini Xxxxxxx
VinsantoXxxxx
$59 (8/16)
$XX (XX/XX)

WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2017

pphoto of Paris Sigalas by Beniamino Pisati

TOP
TOP 100
100 WINERIES
WINERIES 2016
2016

G REECEXXXXXXXX
P ELOPONNESE

http://www.sigalas-wine.com http://www.mercouri.gr

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016