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Friday, July 16, 2021

Greek Wines





2020 Skouras Zoe White....$12.99
Aromatic, pure and friendly, it is also fruity and flavorful. It is well balanced, but with some notable crispness on the back end to give it an invigorating quality. I appreciated its ability to come into balance, become more transparent and show some finesse as it aired out. Mostly, it just tasted great, making it a perfect picnic wine or porch sipper, while maintaining its refreshing demeanor."


2020 Mylonas Winery Assyrtiko...$15.99
Made from 100% Assyrtiko
Press from the 2019 vintage (none yet for the 2020)
This intriguing white offers aromas of tropical fruit, herbs and white flowers, and a full-bodied but springy array of lime and herbs. The wine has an appealing creaminess but still maintains an elegant poise. The finish is lingering with a clean, salty spin"  -- 91/100 The Wine Enthusiast (2019 vintage)
Mylonas Winery is a third generation (since 1917) boutique winery located 30mi south of Athens. The petite but contemporary winery is built in the village of Keratea with the 12 ha of their vineyards being scattered in Attica’s peninsula. They farm traditionally, mainly Greek grape varieties, with respect and trust to the terroir. Attica’s has a unique terroir rich in minerals & limestone soils. The mild Mediterranean climate acts as an ally and the old vines produce their most concentrated grapes in low yields. Mylonas philosophy is based on minimum intervention from the vineyard to the bottling. When you have great vineyards that produce high quality grapes of distinctive individual character, this is not only environmentally and socially responsible approach, it’s also the best way to consistently make fine wine.

2018 Douloufakis Liatiko Dafnios...$15.99
100% Liatiko
This wine's aroma will surprise you with its bouquet of spices such as olives, rich dark fruits and hints of tannins that will age and mature unfolding -as time passes- aromas of nuts, raisins and leather. The color is light red with orange hues, which is characteristic of this variety. As you first taste it, you will experience the continuation of the heady bouquet and will discover a wine of medium body, good acidity, soft and tasteful tannins, which make it most elegant to drink!.
On the nose, this wine offers rich cedar, olive, dark-chocolate and leather aromas. On the palate, earthy smoke, leather and cranberry flavors are buoyed by good acidity and medium-bodied structure
Rated 89/100 The Wine Enthusiast
The winery is located in the village of Dafnes near the city of Heraklion, Crete. The area has a rich wine history of winemaking and viticulture. From grandfather to father and then to grandson, the Douloufakis family has been involved in viticulture and wine production for three generations. More than half a century later, the same winery, now more contemporary than ever, continues to produce high quality products with the same passion. The family wine making tradition is continued by Nikos Douloufakis, who studied oenology in Piemonte, Italy, an area where the engagement with wine has evolved into a science. From the beginning, his main concern was the restructuring of the family vineyards and the modernization of the winery

2016 Skouras Grande Cuvee Nemea...$33.99
The 2016 Grande Cuvée is an Agiorgitiko aged for 12 months in a 60/40 mixture of new and used French oak. It comes in at 14.1% alcohol. This presents as bright, fresh and perky, with red fruit flavors and new wood on the finish. Granted that they are different vintages, you get something when you trade up to this from the Saint George. That Saint George has a soft Beaujolais-like feel to it. This is fresher, more distinguished in style and more precise. There's lift to the fruit and better structure. Even with the extra year of age, there's still some tannic pop on the finish. The tannins are ripe, though. This is refined and approachable. Although it drinks reasonably well now, holding it for a couple of years will bring some rewards. Traditionally, these age well, although I have some doubt that this will be the best example of that in the group.
Rated 89/100 The Wine Advocate

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