Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 69

YEAR'S BEST GREEK WINES
272187

90 | Estate Argyros

271905
$34

2018 Santorini Assyrtiko ^ This is Matthew
Argyros's flagship Santorini, a cuvée of oldvine fruit gently pressed, then aged for a
short time on the lees. It's steely and lean,
the clarity of the chalky flavors giving it an
electric feel. It lasts, shimmering with minerality, as white as Santorini's chalk caves, redolent with salinity. § Craft + Estate/Winebow
Imports, NY
272186

88 | Estate Argyros

$32

2017 Santorini Argyros Assyrtiko (Best
Buy) ^ This is a ripe, round Santorini, its steely
acidity countered by a peachy richness. Give
it some time in the cellar and the chalky
savor may come to the fore. § Craft + Estate/
Winebow Imports, NY

TINOS
272082

94 | Domaine de Kalathas

93 | Domaine Zafeirakis

$24

2017 Tyrnavos Natura Malagousia ^ Fermented with ambient yeasts, this is a deep,
rich malagousia. It tastes of peaches right
down to the pit, the juicy flavors held fast by
a sensation of cold, clean, stony minerality.
It's sophisticated malagousia, with nothing
wafty about it. § Dionysi Grevenitis Selections/
DNS Wines, San Francisco, CA

$55

Tinos Sainte Obeissance Vignes Centenaires ^ Attracted by the wild, boulder-strewn
landscape of the Falatados Mountains of
Tinos, Jérôme Charles Binda left his native
France to set up a winery in 2011. A former
graphic designer, Binda has searched out old
plots of vines, own-rooted, many allowed to
grow untrellised along the ground in the
local tradition. This wine, a blend of aspro
potamisi and rozaki, is one result: Deep yellow, it's a wild, spicy white, the flavors ranging from honeycomb and oranges to fennel
pollen and sea salt. All that flavor cushions
the tang of the cidery acidity, which seems to
charge those flavors from within. The wine
lasts for days open, maintaining uncanny
delicacy for its breadth and depth. It's built
for rich foods, like buttery langoustines, or
a bowl of Santorini fava purée whipped with
olive oil until creamy. § Dionysi Grevenitis
Selections/DNS Wines, San Francisco, CA

M A I N L A N D W H IT E S
CENTRAL GREECE

272342

92 | Estate Hatzimichalis

$17

2018 Atalanti Valley Malagousia ^ If springtime had a flavor, it might taste like this: A
wine with crisp notes of lemon and herbs,
this breezes in to a riot of meadow-flower
scents before warming into stone-fruit flavors. The mineral acidity helps the wine
retain clarity from beginning to end, and
gives it the substance to pair with a smoked
trout salad. § Celina Imports, Old Bethpage, NY
272089

90 | Domaine Zafeirakis

$17

88 | Mylonas Winery

$17

2018 Tyrnavos Malagousia (Best Buy) ^
This is soft and pillowy, a silky charmer filled
with malagousia's sweet florals and salt, as
if dusted with fleur de sel. The fresh-fennel
edge keeps it feeling vibrant, a sophisticated
white to open before dinner. § Dionysi Grevenitis Selections/DNS Wines, San Francisco, CA
271585

272214

93 | Domaine
Papagiannakos

eral character, this one comes close to the
Santorini ideal, radiating sunny warmth
from its firm, stony flavor. Vassilis Papagiannakos grows it on a north-facing slope in
Attika, where the vines root into limestone;
he picks in August, before the grapes get too
ripe (this one comes in at 13 percent alcohol).
Fermented in stainless-steel tanks, it's savory
and round, with only a hint of fruit flavor
to add substance and texture. § Craft + Estate/
Winebow Imports, NY
272090

$22

2018 Attica Assyrtiko ^ Unlike most mainland assyrtikos, which stress fruit over min-

2018 Attica Savatiano (Best Buy) ^ This is
thirst-quenching and pretension-free, a lemony savatiano with a distinctly herbal edge.
Give it a chill to accent its crisp edges. § Diamond Importers, Chicago, IL

87 | Markou Vineyards

$15

86 | Vriniotis Winery

$10

2017 Attica Savatiano (Best Buy) ^ This is
golden and rich, with savatiano's waxy texture and chamomile scents. Give it a light
chill to curb the sweetness of its pear fruit,
and pour with a feta-topped salad. § Athenee
Importers & Distributors, Hempstead, NY
271685
2017 Evia Methea (Best Buy) ^ A blend of aidani and monemvasia, this is creamy and full,
with soft acidity winding through its floral
pineapple flavors. It's an easy white for a cool
evening. § Sierra Nevada Imports, Reno, NV

MACEDONIA
272080

92 | Nerantzi

$18

91 | Biblia Chora

$27

91 | Ktima Gerovassiliou

$27

91 | Oenops

$30

2018 Serres Assyrtiko (Best Buy) ^ Evanthia
Mitropoulou grows this assyrtiko on the
hills above the Strymonas River, northeast
of Thessaloniki. Planted on loam over limestone, the vines have been producing some
of the best mainland assyrtiko we've tasted
in the past few years, including this rich,
ripe wine that retains the variety's hallmark
acidity. Farmed without inputs, fermented
in stainless steel and bottled with minimal
sulfur, it's firm and savory, with pleasantly
abrasive acidity driving the pithy grapefruit
flavors forward. If you open this now, splash
it in a decanter before serving with something meaty, like braised octopus; otherwise,
tuck it away in the cellar for a couple of years. §
Dionysi Grevenitis Selections/DNS Wines, San
Francisco, CA
272024
2017 Pangeon Areti ^ This is lean and herbal,
an austere assyrtiko with a sleek, fine texture.
Decant it to get beyond the initial reductive
smokiness, and serve with grilled fish. § Cava
Spiliadis, NY
272149
2017 Epanomi Single Vineyard Malagousia (Best Buy) ^ This is silky and delicate, with
notes of green plums and petal-light florals
woven into its sleek structure. The texture
has richness-a portion of the cuvée was vinified in barrels and left on its lees-but the
wine remains fresh and restrained enough to
pair with sashimi. § Cava Spiliadis, NY
271889
2017 Greece ^ Nikos Karatzas runs an unorthodox winery in Drama, making wines from
the best fruit he can source from all around
Greece. This one is vidiano from a vineyard
in Crete, fermented with ambient yeasts in
a mix of stainless-steel tanks, amphorae and
WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2019

69
http://www.hatzimichalis.gr/malagousia-oaked-usa http://www.papagiannakos.gr/en/the-winery/
Wine & Spirits - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2019
