OPTIMUS
Nemea
OPTIMUS means ideal; We believe that this is the most suitable name for a wine created after a long and extensive research on the ideal version of Agiorgitiko. A version of Agiorgitiko that stands out in terms of conception, design, cultivation and winemaking process.
It all started back in 2004 with the clonal selection, a lengthy procedure which was completed in 2012, when our dear friend and agriculturist, Mr Bakassietas entrusted us with the precious Agiorgitiko clone of 001VNB which was planted in 2014.
After 7 years of anticipation, in 2021, the moment of vindication had finally arrived along with the certainty that the clone of Agiorgitiko was what we were originally looking for –the optimum result.
Optimus is a single vineyard wine of impressive aromatic profile and exceptionally velvety texture made mostly of the clone of Agiorgitiko with the addition of a small percentage of Vertzami grapes. Vertzami,is a nearly forgotten variety of West Peloponnese which is also cultivated in our Koutsi vineyard and boosts the wine with tannins and spices.
This blend is aged for almost 18 months in new French oak casks. The wine does not ask for anything else rather than the opportunity to age for as long as a decade in order to highlight even more the beauty of this creation following the geometric progression as reflected on the labels.
The AGIORGITIKO series is completed with the creation of AGIORGITIKO by GAIA. Rich and structured, it is balanced between fruit and the oak wood.
Characterized by ripe fruity notes and balanced oak flavors our AGIORGITIKO by GAIA can be aged for 4-6 years to acquire a more complex flavor and evolve a velvety wine.
We recommend pairing it with red meat dishes that are rich, intense and spicy, at a temperature between 16ο – 18οC.
It consists of a shallow (70-80cm) clay layer that lies upon the lime mother soil with relatively neutral ph. Low organic content, like most of the limestone soils in Greece. On the slopes of the hills where most of the vineyards are located, the soils drain quite well but are exposed to erosion.
Cold and humid winters with low temperatures that rarely drop below the freezing point. Summers are warm, without excessively high temperatures and with few showers during June. Typically, a long Indian type autumn follows the summer. The warm September days with significantly colder nights and the dry conditions synthesize an ideal weather pattern for a good maturation. The total rain precipitations (600-700mm annually) occur mainly between October and March.
8-year-old vineyard, in the semi-mountainous village of Koutsi in Nemea, at an altitude of 450-550 m with a strong slope # 15 % & direction S-SW. This vineyard is pruned with strict care in order to reduce its yield.
The winery was built in 1997 at the heart of the private vineyard in Koutsi, Nemea at an altitude of 550m. Our winery in Koutsi is housed in a contemporary industrial building with magnificent views of the plains of Nemea and the valley of Asopos River, around 350m below. Its capacity is 3,060 hectoliters while its production equipment and the high-quality control systems offer to the oenologist every state-of-the-art instrument for a vertical production of high quality wines.
