Castor Membership June 2023: The Commonality of Evolution
Rows of vineyards sit in the shadow of
“The Commonality of Evolution”
Domaine Zaeferakis Assyrtiko 2021
Domaine Zaeferakis Limniona “Young Vines” 2020
At the wine bar in college, we have a wine on by the glass that becomes a staff favorite: it’s from the Peloponnesian Islands in Greece, and the grape is Moschofilero. Juicy and exotic, it leaves us feeling as if we are ahead of the curve in a midwestern, mid-2000s time-space continuum. We marvel at the conceptual linkage of time that is drinking something hailing from what many consider to be the birthplace of this strangely wonderful practice of fermenting grape juice.
***
It’s 2013 and we have just arrived in upstate New York for a week of, as we relatives all like to call it, “forced family fun”. My girlfriend Michelle (who, thanks to a combination of good shipping luck/her parents’ permission, and surreptitious hiding of the ring by the resort owners, will be my fiancée by weeks’ end) and I pull up to the place where we stay, and among the usual gross tonnage of belongings to get through the week we have the requisite mixed cases of wine in tow. Later, as we take in the sunset over the clear, deep waters of Lake George, our family members gush about one of the crisp, citrus-laden white wines we’ve brought along: “What is this? It’s really delicious”, etc. “It’s Sigalas, from Santorini Island in Greece”, I say, and though they think I know what I’m doing by bringing them a wine from the ancient world, I know in my mind that I’m merely scratching the surface.
***
In 2013-2014, I’m studying wine like crazy, trying to memorize as many factoids as I can possibly cram. I’m in the final stages of my restaurant life, and still proud of the fact that my wine list at a French-American bistro includes wines from all over the world, including several (both white and red) from Greece. The producers that I have access to (Boutari, Foundi, Taralas, Sigalas, Skouras, Alpha Estate) are starting to become known commodities, if they weren’t already, and certainly more commercialized. Still, I’m proud of their representation on my list, even if most of my clients won’t choose them-unless, of course, they’re directed that way.
***
While presenting to one of my retail clients in the latter stages of my import/distribution work, I see a wine that intrigues me: it’s a back vintage bottle of “Ramnista”, a red wine from the producer Kir-yanni in Naoussa, who I learned of years before but who now has grown to the point that they are no longer really capable of being described as artisanal. Still, this library bottle sitting dustily on the shelf gets my itch going, and later I present it to my bosses blind at our office to great acclaim-as we taste, it’s obvious that a vast potential is being unearthed and realized.
***
In August 2022, I run into an old professional colleague of mine at a restaurant in DC, Bryan Smith; in the years since we were young-ish wine professionals at some of the city’s stalwart establishments, we’ve both honed in on import work: me concentrating on France, Spain, and Portugal, with Bryan doing the same, along with carving out a special path as our foremost local advocate of, and expert on, the wines of Greece. Competing for brands and wineries has unfortunately kept us at a professional distance for a while now, but we have a nice moment as I tell him about Gemini Wine Company and ask about his latest trip to Greece, scheduled for the fall of ‘22. I ask him if I can have him to my office so he can teach me more about his take on this country that has become so ingrained in his soul, and he agrees wholeheartedly. I follow his travel posts from the road in Greece with great enjoyment, but then his social media feed goes dark until, last December, his daughter takes it over to inform us all that he has become seriously ill, and then once more to post that he has passed away at only 52 years old. In the posts to come from family and friends, I realize that Bryan and I share a birthday, and think about how competing for brands and wineries doesn’t really matter…if it ever should have to begin with…if indeed we really were competing in the first place, or if that was all a construct, drawn up by others and hoisted on two guys who just really loved wine.
***
It’s near the end of this year’s April and warmer than it’s supposed to be, and I find myself rather randomly at a flag store, buying a fresh rendition of Old Glory for the front porch. I take in all of the different symbols hanging in the shop, and marvel at the sheer number of country, service, or sporting loyalties there are to be expressed. I am literally staring at flags of EU nations when I get a text from Gray Mosby, Bryan Smith’s former boss and import partner; he’s going to be out with a small lineup of highly allocated Greek wines the next day, and presenting them will be Dionysi Grevenitis, an NYC-based broker whose small-production portfolio is imported through San Francisco’s DNS Selections. In the modern era of Greek wines in the US market, talking to Dionysi about his producers is sort of like talking to Michael Jordan about his jump shot, so I hastily rearrange my schedule and begin preparing myself: for reimagining Greece, for my slow but constant progress in both wine and life, and for the kinship that everyone, from the highest of wine’s pedestals to its newest initiates, finds in sharing the Journey-in Evolving.
NYC-based Greek wine specialist Dionysi Grevenitis.
Dionysi Grevenitis should really be grandfathered into the wine business just on name alone, but luckily for the rest of us in his path, his Journey over the last 15+years has been one of discovering boutique producers, in many cases at the upper end of the price spectrum, who all serve to satisfy one unifying factor: the uniqueness of their wines. In terms of terroir, varietal character, flavor profiles, and evoking a sense of singular place, the wines of Dionysi Grevenitis Selections aim to be singular and dare us to expand our sensory awareness of what’s in the glass, rather than simply invoke comparisons to more accessible wines as a safety net.
The evolution of wine can sometimes be better defined as the evolution of a wine market; when it comes to Greece, this couldn’t be more accurate. 20 years ago, the wines we were receiving from Greece amounted to little more than “refreshing” white wines, rustic, backward reds, and the occasional dessert wine from Muscat or bottle of Retsina wine (an ancient process whereby white grape must is flavored with the resin of Aleppo pine, added during fermentation). Even though certain tiny producers whom Dionysi would later represent had already begun their work, we as a wine community continued to be largely unfamiliar. Astoundingly, while over the last 10-15 years wine professionals have become attuned to modern attempts to produce higher-quality, artisanal level wine in Greece, I still find that the general public at large harbors many of these now hopelessly out of date preconceptions, largely because they can only consume what they are given, and there still aren’t many establishments with these kinds of reimagined Greek wines on offer. Another factor is that many Greek wines that are imported are, in truth, chasing the natural/orange/hipster wine movement, which while no doubt well-intentioned has now become as ubiquitous as the “classic” wines it supposedly derides. Where this leaves Greece, in my mind, is in a state of contradiction: wineries that started as boutique have grown to conglomerates, while the efforts of some winemakers to harken back to techniques and quality of the past have been unfairly lumped in with the natural/orange crowd. My own personal relationship to Greek wines has always felt like some vinous scavenger hunt; I always wanted some palpable sense of MORE, even if I didn’t know what that more was-more complexity from the white wines, more fruit or balance from the reds. What is wonderful, however, about both wine and life is the age-old adage that all of your prior experience serves to put you on the map as where and who you are, and the opportunity to evolve is always right there, if you are open to receiving it.
Stainless steel tanks, and the welcome clay amphorae, at Zafeirakis.
Sometimes you just have a sense in a wine tasting that, regardless of your present circumstances/capability to buy, you are just in lockstep with the person sitting across from you-not necessarily personally, but with their palate. These occasions are rare in my experience, and most welcome. When I tasted with Dionysi and Gray that April afternoon, with my third child less than a week away, I wasn’t planning on a Greek Membership feature in the least, and yet there I sat, my take and understanding on Greek wines evolving with each sip. With every bottle opened, I felt like I had started my own Greek wine import company, and Dionysi had picked almost all of the selections with my palate in mind. What I was tasting were wines that really spoke: of a particular varietal trait, of varietals known to me but expressed from a different region with such distinction that they felt brand new, of purposeful aging (both white and red) to obtain a level of perfection that left some cuvees rivaling other wine styles considered to be the elite of the world.
We don’t always realize it, or allow ourselves the grace, but evolution is there, waiting for us all, waiting for the wines themselves…the very nature of our business revolves around the idea of growth…the grapes…our palates…our experiences…our sense of hospitality. As wine professionals, we should remind ourselves that our capacity to evolve is shared with everyone in our path, particularly our clients-this commonality bridges the gap between training and pleasure, between knowledge and joy-D.
Domaine Zafeirakis Assyrtiko 2021
Country of Origin: Greece.
Places and People: Christos Zafeirakis has quickly become one of the most celebrated and exciting newer producers in Greece. Located in the town of Tyrnavos, which lends its name to the region’s PGI (the Greek equivalent of an IGT or IGP, this is a regional appellation as opposed to a more specific PDO designation), the family Domaine is in the foothills of Mount Olympus in Greece’s Thessaly region, north and west of Athens. Trained in northern Italy and with years of experience in Tuscanay, Piemonte, and Alto Adige under his belt, Christos returned to his homeland and planted the area’s first organic vineyard in 2005, as well as increasing his family’s holdings to a still-small 12 hectares and working to reintroduce the native varietal Limniona (see tasting notes below). All of his wines are certified organic, and biodynamic practices have been employed since 2019. The vineyards for Zafeirakis’ Assyrtiko are located in the commune of Paleomylos.
Soil: Sandy clay withn elevated level of flint and lower amount of calcium; this offers both early maturation of the Assyrtiko and an elegant, brackish character to mimic the grape’s other expressions on the islands/closer to the sea. The clay base helps with water retention and serves to balance Assyrtiko’s naturally clean acidity.
Grape Varieties: 100% Assyrtiko (primarily cultivated on the island of Santorini and other Pelos islands, the Assyrtiko grape is known for thriving in high-mineral or volcanic soils, bringing beautiful citrus and marine qualities to the glass).
Winemaking: Following a manual harvest with extra assortment at the winery, the Zafeirakis Assyrtiko grapes are refrigerated for 24 hours and then pressed/fermented in stainless steel tanks. Only spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts are allowed.
Aging: The Assyrtiko remains in stainless steel and spends a few months with its skins to allow for additional roundness and nuance to the mouthfeel prior to bottling.
Flavors and Foods: For those who may be familiar with Assyrtiko as a varietal, Zafeirakis presents a lovely counterpoint to the typical style in bottlings from Santorini and the other islands; here the flint soil serves to play up a brighter mineral note, almost reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc. This more inland example trades lime in on the nose for preserved lemon, wild honey, orange blossom, and rosemary. The palate brings more of a lemon/like mix, but the steely, clean texture of Assyrtiko, while present, is buoyed by a juicy roundness I frankly have not seen at this price level without manipulation via oak. Lemon curd, thyme, and verbena all add to the complex flavors as well, and the near-creamy textural note from additional skin time expands the pairing possibilities: lemon-thyme chicken, grilled shrimp with garlic and olive oil, or a recent meal of Spanish mackerel with a preserved lemon butter and sautéed red onions all come to mind.
Service and Cellar: The Zafeirakis Assyrtiko 2021, while possessing the round notes to serve on the upper end of the white wine cellar temp scale, actually does best in the colder side (48 degrees F), as the natural acidity of the Assyrtiko grape varietal becomes a bit overbearing if the wine is left to warm up. The 2021 shows plenty of structure that is enjoyable now but should hold up for 3-5 years in the cellar.
Domaine Zafeirakis Limniona Young Vines 2019
Soil: The young vines of Limniona (10-12 years) are located in the same Paleomylos vineyards as the Assyrtiko (sand/clay with flint), but with the addition of fruit from the commune of Kampilaga, which is planted on clay at 200-300 meters elevation with a much higher calcium concentration-formerly a lake, the Kampilaga vineyards also sport a substantial amount of trace elements from the lakebed and are very resistant to drought.
Grape Varieties: 100% Limniona.
Winemaking: Hand-harvesting of certified organic grapes that are grown biodynamically beginning with this 2019 vintage. Spontaneous yeast fermentation takes place in large wooden tanks (3000 and 5000 liters, respectively). A long extraction of up to 25 days.
Aging: Maturation for the Limniona will continue in the large wooden tanks (or clay amphorae as well, depending on the vintage/cuvee), and the wines age for a year in the bottle prior to release.
Flavors and Foods: The 2019 Limniona shows a color that heads past ruby to more of a garnet, which is interesting in comparison to the more medium body of the wine, and indicative of the concentration of fruit in the glass. A nose that, if we must compare, trends toward Pinot Noir-bright cherry and red apple skin evoke Cote Chalonnaise Burgundy, strawberries and cream remind of the Russian River Valley. Rose petals, potpourri, egshell, and warmed potting soil make the Limniona both complex and supremely inviting at first scent. The fresh strawberries and cream element continues on the palate, where the cherries are tart and accompanied by pomegranate, grenadine, and a note of rhubarb (this wine in terms of June seasonality is pretty perfect!). Potting soil and tilled earth dominate the non-fruit elements, and the brightness of texture becomes more apparent as the wine opens; I prefer the concentration at the outset (see service note below).Food pairings that immediately beckon include seared tuna, sushi or seafood crudo, grilled branzino with fresh thyme, or a summer salad with strawberries if you want to take the easy path of flavor matching.
Service and Cellar: The brightness and acidity of the Limniona, I feel, dictate that the cooler side of red wine cellar temperature works best for serving (56-58 degrees F). Per my note above, I think drinking the Limniona relatively soon after opening shows off its beautiful red fruit notes, as opposed to any extended aeration. The 2019 is firmly “in the pocket” now and should remain so for another 2-3 years.