Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/70673
GRAPE GRO WING smaller clusters, which are looser and have smaller berries. The wines remind me very much of Nebbiolo, as they are tannic, have good acidity and tend to be garnet in color. The more modern ap- proach is for darker wines with a riper style. Like Nebbiolo, the wines can age well. This wine variety is probably one of the best known by quality wine drinkers outside of Greece Rapsani is a blend of Xinomavro with equal parts of two lesser known varieties, Krassato and Stavroto. This very interest- ing wine is produced by Tsantali Winery, a very progressive and large winery south of Thessaloniki. The fruit is grown near the small town of Rapsani, nestled at the base of Mt. Olympus, the home of the mythical Greek gods. The wine is rich, dark in color and has many layers of flavors and great tannic structure. Some wineries blend Xinomavro with Merlot and Cabernet with surprisingly good results. Chrisohoou has experiment- ed with these blends and is making good wine on a commercial level. Agiorghitiko: This is another red variety capable of making very well structured and deep colored wines with a long finish. It reminds me of Zinfandel in terms of body and weight. It is also vigorous with large clusters. It is potentially productive, and it is head pruned in older vineyards. Many newer plantings are on VSP trellis systems. Con- trolling the crop size is very important in making concentrated wines. It is planted south of Athens in the Peloponnes re- gion, and Nemea is a lovely vine-filled valley where they make particularly good wine. Dr. Yiannis Paraskevopou- los is a University of Bordeaux-trained enologist who produces outstanding Ag- iorghitiko under the Gaia Winery label. He is an articulate and totally charming person who speaks flawless English and French as well as Greek, and he is an ex- cellent spokesperson for the Greek wine industry. In nearby Mantinia, UC Davis- trained winemaker Apostolos Spiropou- los makes both an intensely flavored Ag- iorghitiko labeled Red Stag and also a blend with Cabernet Franc and Merlot under the Porfyros label of the family's Domaine Spiropoulos. Their vineyards are farmed organically, and the wines are excellent. White wines Assyrtiko: This va- riety is most famous from the picturesque island of Santorini. Considering the hot climate, the fruit has great acidity and is fermented dry, result- ing in a very mineral wine with citrus-like aromatics. It may also be partially dried and blended with two more aromatic white grapes—Aidani and Athiri—to pro- duce sweet Vinsanto (wine from Santorini), which has been produced on the island for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. The vines are grown in very porous and infer- tile volcanic soils, and they are trained in what appears to be woven wreaths that hug the ground. Yields are very, very low. The vines are planted in depressions to protect the fruit from constant winds that come off the sea, and they are rejuvenated by re- moving all wood every 50 years or so. New sprouts are then trained, since the vines are on their own roots. The fruit is resistant to rot, most common vine diseases and is seri- 16th Annual Central Coast Insights Program Presented by the Wine Industry Financial Symposium Group March 17, 2011, Embassy Suites, San Luis Obispo "Howthe Central CoastWine Industry Will Adapt to the NewGlobal Economy" For a full program, visit our website on January 17th. The program will be posted and the registration will be open. www.winesymposium.com Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2011 77