Gaia Property is taken into account one among Greece’s primary wineries. They’re based in two areas: Nemea, inside the Peloponnese, and the island of Santorini. We visited with co-owner Yiannis Paraskevopoulos (pictured above) on the winery in Koutsi in Nemea, which is the place their vineyard is positioned. It’s at altitude, which offers a further common native climate.
In Santorini, they develop Assyrtiko on volcanic soil with zero clay. ‘You probably can’t assemble water reserves there, leading to low yield,’ says Giannis. ‘It moreover means zero phylloxera, so ungrafted vines.’ The age of the vines this is a speculation as a result of finest means they’re renewed above flooring sometimes. The vines are expert in a braided basket kind configuration. By counting the rings (new one added yearly) you probably can date the vine. Yearly the grower assesses the yield of each vine, and when one is lagging, they decapitate the vine, nevertheless depart the equivalent root, which generates a model new plant. This happens every 80-100 years. This suggests the roots are very earlier – perhaps 4 of 5 centuries older, and even older than this. The vines existed on Santorini since 1500 BCE, which makes these among the many many oldest on the planet. Rainfall is sparse and the soil can’t retain it merely.
The pH is generally 2.85, even with 14% alcohol, resulting from low potassium inside the soils. It’s moreover a very phenolic choice. They’ve measured sodium contact and in distinction with Nemea: there’s 400 events further sodium inside the Santorini Assyrtiko which comes from the ocean spray.
THE WINES
Gaia Thalassitis 2021 Santorini
Stainless steel, 6 months on lees. Latest and direct with stunning citrus fruit drive and some salty mineral notes. There’s a slight pithiness proper right here. The acidity is correctly built-in and there’s a improbable spicy finish. 91/100
Gaia Thalassitis Cellar Aged 2015 Santorini
Yellow shade. Preserved with bigger sulfites. Aromatic nostril with herbs, nuts and some wax along with some citrus. There’s a lively, extremely efficient palate proper right here with some building. Waxy, lively, keen citrus with some savoury depth. Truly extreme acidity and great complexity from the occasion: has a vibrant future ahead of it. Very expressive. 93/100
Gaia Submerged 2018 Santorini
That’s 4 years beneath the ocean. 476 bottles made. Has some shade. Sophisticated nostril of toast, nuts and slightly little bit of matchstick low cost. Extremely efficient and citrussy with spice and minerals, some refined toast, and lime. Truly intense and vivid, with this spicy low cost together with a further dimension. 93/100
Gaia Amonite 2021 Santorini
15 months on lees, 10% in barrel. Ammonite is the emblem of the company. Lively, expressive and saline with precise citrus fruit. Some lime, a contact of mandarin, and crisp crystalline lemon fruit. So expressive and improbable with a means of sophistication. 94/100
Gaia Born to Be Wild 2021 Santorini
45% stainless-steel, 45% picket, 10% clay, wild ferment. Extremely efficient, intense and lively with extreme acidity, displaying layers of salty lime and pear fruit. There’s good depth and depth proper right here with compact crystalline citrus on the tip. Very lively and intense with concentrated flavours. 94/100
Gaia Nychteri 2020 Santorini
50% pores and pores and skin contact for 12 hours, then barrel-fermented in 80% new oak. Concentrated and intense with daring, barely pithy citrus fruit, along with some pear and apple. Intense and vivid with a salty, mineral edge with good acidity. Zippy acidity proper right here along with a great deal of flavour. 93/100
Gaia Assyrtiko Clay 2018 Santorini
4 years inside the clayvers, 7-8 days. Golden shade. That’s extremely efficient and expressive with slightly little bit of tannin and notes of tea and orange peel. Grippy and as well as a bit spicy. Pretty acidity and crystalline citrus fruit with improbable salty, mineral notes. So distinctive. 94/100
Gaia 4-6H Agiorgitiko 2022 Peloponnese
12.5% acohol. 4-6 hours pores and pores and skin contact. 1000 m. Lively and vibrant with good acidity. Latest and sappy with juicy cranberry and citrus fruit with a tapering, finely spiced finish. 90/100
Gaia Monograph 2022 Peloponnese
100% Agiogorgitico, stainless-steel, co-inoculation. Pretty and expressive with pretty crimson cherry and berry fruit, displaying considerably tannin and a nice fruity mid-palate. Fairly fruit proper right here: so crisp and fruity with good a sweet profile. 89/100
Agiorgitiko by Gaia 2021 Nemea
Bought-in grapes. That’s designed to be a benchmark Nemea. Juicy, vibrant, supple and vivid with good acidity and slightly little bit of tannic grip. Has some brightness and good juiciness. Pure with good grip: a surprising wine of precise focus and purity. Sappy with a stony, grippy finish. 92/100
Gaia S 2020 Peloponnese
70% Agiorgitiko, 30% Syrah, property grown, 14 months in barrel. A superb-Nemea! The Syrah is matured in American oak. Pretty aromatics proper right here: some peppery Syrah character with sweet, pure black cherry and blackberry fruit. Concentrated, daring and intense with latest black cherry fruit, hints of tar and pepper, and good fruit purity, and some good tannins. 94/100
Gaia Property 2020 Nemea
40 yr earlier single vineyard near the winery, 14 months in cask, 6 months in foudre. Fairly blackcurrant and cherry fruit with slightly little bit of spice, along with some improbable balsamic hints. The palate is intense as structured, with good acidity and vibrant blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. Fairly freshness proper right here along with building. There’s a wide range of depth proper right here. It’s a very vital wine. 95/100
[An unnamed sample]
It will probably be a model new label: it’s a 2021 from a cask (new oak), and it’s a model new clone of Agiorgitiko. There are 5 clones on the market, and that’s virus free. VNB01. Pure, ripe, intense with some oak evident, displaying good depth and density of blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. Structured, broad and with a wide range of fruit. ‘It’s a Greek crimson of the model new interval and I’m so proud,’ says Giannis.
Gaia Property 2007 Nemea
Deeply coloured. ‘Once more then our skills weren’t as tuned as they’re in the mean time,’ says Giannis. Aromatic and finely spiced on the nostril with some earthy hints, a slight baked plum character, and some mint. The palate displays vivid earthy blackcurrant and blackberry fruit with slightly little bit of life to it, and a savoury, earthy spicy character on the tip. 92/100
Vertzami 2021 (barrel sample)
A unusual choice from the west coast of the Peloponnese, and Giannis thinks it is perhaps the way in which ahead for the Peloponnese. They’ve merely 0.5 hectares, nevertheless are planting further. That’s extremely efficient, vivid and concentrated with extreme acidity, extreme tannin, and intense black cherry and blackberry fruit with some improbable inexperienced hints. Such an impactful wine. He thinks that’s the long term blended with the model new clone of Agiorgitiko. ‘It has what Agiorgitiko doesn’t have.’
The combination, made in the mean time: 64 Agirogitiko, 36 Vertzami. 2021. It’s a new wine that acquired’t be on the market for a while. Concentrated, vivid and daring with vivid black cherry and blackberry fruit, with loads of acidity and tannin along with stunning intense fruit. Such a wall of a wine, nevertheless displaying freshness and purity, and this acquired’t be ready for a very very very long time. Big potential. It’s a excellent wine. 95-97/100
Gaia Wines Ritinitis Nobilis 2022
Powerfully aromatic with pine, citrus and orange peel on the nostril. Throughout the mouth it is latest and fruity with citrus and pear along with some mint and citrus pith, along with some marmalade and pine character. Truly distinctive: a recent, extremely efficient, lively fruity wine with this stunning bitter twist. 89/100