Assyrtiko "Nikteri" Santorini, Koutsoyannopoulos - 2018

Assytriko from Santorini is famous for minerality and freshness. The Nikteri style takes these wines and elevates them through barrel aging and higher ripeness. When done well, it drinks like white Burgundy that was grown on the side of a volcano. Koutsoyannopoulos executes it very, very well. Vines have to be pruned into natural baskets to protect the grapes from sun and blasts of sand, with low planting density. Rain is rare and mostly confined to winter. The early mist from the caldera is often the only moisture they see. It's worth it. A concentrated, fuller white, it still has great balance and a lot of life left to live. Even with bottle age there's still fruit here: pears and dried figs, and intense aromatics of hay, oak spice, petrol, and hazelnut. Then it turns saline: notes of wild mint and tea leaf around a salty, mineral core.