A grape variety taking its place on the world stage
Yannis Valambous had a successful career as an economist in the UK. But in 2010, he decided to leave that behind, and move to Santorini; he wanted to restore and develop the vineyards and winery left to him by his late father. Yannis had fond memories of going to Santorini on holiday as a child and believed that the island had the potential to produce world-class wines. So, with the help of two talented oenologists, he set about reviving the property and building a state-of-the-art winery, with the aim of creating high-quality wines from indigenous varieties.
While over sixty different native varieties are cultivated by the small handful of growers on Santorini, there is a strong focus on one: Assyrtiko. Over the last 20 years, Assyrtiko has proven itself as a serious grape variety capable of making some astonishing wines. Vassaltis now have 10 different varieties planted, which Yannis jokes is '9 more than I'd originally planned', but Assyrtiko remains the flagship.
When I asked Yannis at a recent tasting about the long-term ageing potential of his wines, he replied 'we don't know!' Vassaltis are a young winery (their first vintage was 2015) and they don't yet have much of a back catalogue. But those early vintages are maturing beautifully, as I saw for myself. When young, the wines are comparable to Chablis; fresh, opulent and saline, with impressive weight and concentration. After a few years, however, they develop into something between a richer white burgundy and an aged Australian Riesling, with notes of honey and lime. They blew me away with their texture, complexity and intensity. The Barrel Aged Assyrtiko is fermented in steel and aged in third-use 500-litre French oak; it is an impressive wine which defies the common misconception that Assyrtiko and oak don't match. The mineral, coastal character of the variety remains here, and works in harmony with the texture and body that comes from elevage in oak. This is a wine of notable depth of flavour and ageing potential. /DS
Offered subject to remaining unsold
