Hatzidakis Santorini Assyrtiko de Louros White 2020
£118.00
Description
Crafted from 100% Assyrtiko grapes from the single Louros vineyard, this wine undergoes a long pre-fermentation cold extraction and ferments with native yeasts at low temperatures. It then kneads and matures in oak barrels on its lees. The result is a wine of profound character, boasting a deep yellow colour and an exuberant personality that develops over time. Expect aromas of ripe stone fruits and intriguing oriental spices, followed by a dense, mineral palate with the characteristic Assyrtiko acidity and a lingering, tannic finish. This wine is designed for aging, rewarding cellaring for at least three years and promising evolution for over a decade. Pair it with the richness of shellfish, white and red meats, game, or mature full-fat cheeses.
At a glance
GrapeAssyrtiko
RegionAegean Islands
Vintage2020
ABV15.0%
SweetnessDry
DenominationPDO Santorini
Grape
Assyrtiko
Assyrtiko is by far Greece’s most renowned white grape variety, associated most famously with the volcanic island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea. Following its notable success, it is now grown successfully all over Greece and beyond in Clare Valley, Australia, South Africa and California, being the first Greek grape to become international. It has developed a reputation as being a versatile grape variety, producing wines in a multitude of styles, from fresh, mineral white wines to oaked, worth keeping ones and from bold complex reds to rıch matured dessert wines, such as Vinsanto. Compact clusters of large, moderately thick-skinned berries, late budding and late ripening. Vigorous and productive, resistant to drought, disease and wind and capable of maintaining high acidity up to the final stages of the ripening period. In Santorini it is trained in the characteristic baskets, sitting close to the ground and named “kouloures” by the locals.
Producer
Hatzidakis Winery was founded in 1997 in Pyrgos Kallistis, Santorini, by Haridimos Hatzidakis and his wife Konstantina Chryssou, who met while both working at another Santorini producer. The vineyard belonged to Konstantina's family and had lain abandoned since the 1956 earthquake; the couple replanted it and built their first winery in a small cave, or 'kanava', on the site. It became the first certified organic vineyard on Santorini, and every parcel the estate has since bought or leased has been farmed the same way. Haridimos, widely regarded as one of the island's most important winemakers, pioneered single-vineyard Assyrtiko on Santorini and, working with Paris Sigalas, made some of the first modern red wines from the rare Mavrotragano grape. Since his death in 2017, the winery has been run by Konstantina and their children.
