Wild Ferment Santorini Assyrtiko

Lemon and vanilla on the nose, a bit oily on the palate, fresh citrus fruits, lemon peel and minerals

Vintage 2016 - rich wine! Some fennel and peach, vannilla, robust. Very long aftertaste, always a sign of quality. #assyrtiko #gaia #greece

This wine has everything a wine lover would desire. All of it.

Now this reminds me of my wedding almost 10 years ago! Rich, complex with white peach, mushroom, chamomile and surfer. Will be buying a bottle of this!

Thumbs up!

Piney and tactile, Gaia’s wild ferment Assyrtiko finds a feral rusticity without losing focus or point. Flavors of sweat, pear skin, salinity, wilted tarragon, iodine, and chamomile make for a feisty wine with a gripping, mineral character and expansive breadth. A nod to more traditional winemaking practices, relying on ambient yeasts to initiate fermentation. The grapes come from 70-80 year old ungrafted vines in a vineyard outside the town of Pyrgos. 100% Assyrtiko.

A favorite. I always drink them the year of release, but I decided to put one away for a few years to see what happened. This bottle has been in the cellar for three years, but I don’t think it has changed so much at all. Maybe a faint hint of reduction on the nose? There is the creamy fullness balanced with acidity almost reminiscent of a Mersault, with citrus and vanilla oak and maybe a hint of oak char. But only a little bit. And other flavors I can’t quite pin down.

Such a delicious Greek wine!!

Very fresh and refreshing. Nice salty notes on the nose.

Sharp, sorry, green, and altogether unexpected. Way less “wild” than I thought! Reminds me of a cider or wild yeast beer in the subtlety of flavor. Minerality is good, but smooth, from the volcanic soil (not gravelly), and there’s an unexpected pop of acidity. Medium alcohol. All green apple and sunshine. Amazing.