GRAPE VARIETIES · SANTORINI & NEMEA
Assyrtiko
Greece’s great white variety, in two places
THE VARIETY
One variety, two expressions
Assyrtiko is Greece’s most important white variety: a white with the acidity and structure of a red, rare ageing capacity and remarkable fidelity to its place. It was born on Santorini, where stone, volcano and sea give it its most austere, mineral character – and it is one of the very few Greek varieties that travel successfully beyond their place of origin.
GAIA Wines grows and vinifies it in both of its homes: on Santorini, as its most iconic and age-worthy expression, and in Nemea, as its freshest, fruitiest and most approachable side.
SANTORINI
The power of stone and sea
THE TERROIR
An ecosystem without equal in the world
Santorini is not merely a vineyard; it is a rare ecosystem. The volcanic, porous soil, the extremely dry conditions, the abundant sunshine, the sea mist that protectively covers the vineyards at night and the strong summer winds compose a harsh yet beneficial environment.
The island’s growers have for centuries trained the vines in the «kouloura» basket shape, which protects the grapes from sun and wind. The vineyards are ungrafted, with extremely low yields, and carry a heritage of 3,000 years of continuous viticulture. From here are born the rare, intensely mineral whites of Assyrtiko – among the great whites of the world.
THE GAIA APPROACH
Thirty years exploring the limits of Assyrtiko
GAIA Wines was born in 1994 with 9,600 bottles of THALASSITIS. Since then we have systematically explored the limits of the variety: barrel fermentation and maturation (NYCHTERI), wild fermentation from the mountain vineyard of Pyrgos (WILD FERMENT), four years in clay vessels (CLAY), VINSANTO after ten years in oak, and – since 2009 – the ritual of submerging bottles of THALASSITIS on the seabed off Kamari.
AMMONITE, from the harvest of a rare centenarian vineyard, reveals the ageing capacity of Assyrtiko over time. Our winery, a stone-built early-20th-century «tomato factory» by the sea, also houses a small vinegar cellar with a rare Assyrtiko vinegar.
NEMEA
Assyrtiko away from its island
THE TERROIR
Another expression of the great white variety
Away from Santorini, Assyrtiko changes face. In the semi-mountainous soils of the Peloponnese, with more water and milder conditions, it keeps its signature acidity and freshness but gains more generous fruit and a softer, friendlier texture.
It is the most approachable side of Assyrtiko – a wine for every day that still keeps the backbone and brightness of the variety.
THE GAIA APPROACH
The approachable, friendly side of Assyrtiko
In Nemea, GAIA Wines grows and vinifies Assyrtiko with a different goal than on Santorini: not maximum concentration and ageing, but freshness, fruit and ease in the glass. This is how MONOGRAPH ASSYRTIKO was born, a member of the MONOGRAPH family that offers the most approachable side of the finest varieties of the Greek South.
In GAIA S White, Assyrtiko meets Sauvignon Blanc, with herbal and citrus aromas, while in MONOGRAPH MULTI it joins Roditis Alepou and Moschofilero.
