Akrathos, Assyrtiko, 2018

This Assyrtiko from Mount Cholomon in Chalkidiki, Northern Greece, was the star wine of a Premier Crew Club evening.

With five hectares of organic vineyards at between 200-500 metres above the nearby Agean Sea planted in 2009, Babis Bekris and Nassos Felonis are on to a good thing. The shallow, sandy loam soil and the slate subsoil ensure low yields and concentrated juice, while the high copper content and limestone provide a foundation for satisfying minerality. Whilst the nose has all the intensely citric, pure white flowers and steely, bleached white stone aromas of the grape, the palate is more generously textured and supple and less smoky than the examples we know (and love) from Santorini.

From the municipality of Aristotle’s birth, this is like an intellectual Grand Cru Chablis in a toga.