Nikolou Botanic Sparkling Brut Retsina 2019
£29.50
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Nikolou Botanic Sparkling Brut Retsina 2019
£29.50
Description
The first sparkling retsina in the world and made with the traditional method (the same used for Champagne). During fermentation pine resin is added to give the indistinguishable aromas of Retsina. The Sparkling wine is aged on its fine lees for 6 months prior release. Super pleasant mouthfeel, filled with flavours of white blossom, candied lemon peel and pine drops. Long finish with flavours of fresh bread and summer herbs.
At a glance
Grape
Savatiano
Region
Central Greece
Vintage
2019
ABV
12.5%
Grape
Savatiano
Savatiano is Greece's single most widely planted grape variety, historically the backbone of retsina and still the everyday white of Attica and central Greece. Once dismissed as a workhorse grape grown purely for high yields, low-yield, non-irrigated old vines have shown it can produce genuinely fine, ageworthy whites with citrus, pear and floral notes and, with time in barrel, an appealing oily texture.
Producer
Nikolou Winery has cultivated Savatiano grapes in Koropi, Attica, since 1875, though for generations the family sold their must to Athenian taverns to ferment into retsina themselves. That changed in 1980, when Vassilios Nikolou — trained in chemistry and oenology — took over, modernised the winery and began bottling under the family name for the first time; his son Evangelos, also a trained oenologist, later joined him, and today the next generation, Evangelos and Christina, run the estate. Nikolou is known for pushing Savatiano and retsina in unexpected directions, including Botanic, the world's first traditional-method sparkling retsina.