2015 Argyros Vinsanto Aged 4 Years (500ml)
Grape
Usually about 80% Assyrtiko, 10% Athiri and 10% Aidani
Its Origins
The original 5 acre estate was established by Georgios Argyros on the Greek Island of Santorini. In 1974, after decades of supplying the local market, the founder’s Grandson Yiannis Argyros took over and expanded the estate to 65 acres, while modernising viticulture and winemaking to ensure the quality that would enable an export market. Even so, his son and current owner Matthew Argyros still follows this vision of elevated cosmopolitan standards with a strict respect for their ancient and distinctive tradition, with low-growing bush vines up to 300 years old still cultivated in the traditional ‘crown’ style, and Vinsanto grape dried outdoors on the ground in a unique manner that would be inconceivable in less profoundly dry, sun-baked regions of the world. From Santorini’s famous volcanic mineral soils, Argyros Estate presents a glimpse at one of the world’s oldest yet most overlooked winemaking traditions. But it also offers some of Europe’s most newly available, distinctive and minerally complex wines for the price.
What The Critics Say
97/100 Decanter (2012 Vintage)
"For Vinsanto, the result of sun-dried grapes, the winery says that it uses grapes from its "oldest parcels," some of them reaching 500 years of age in Episkopi and Pyrgos. There is a bounty of Vinsanto here. They are among the island's treasures. The long-aged versions are VERY long-lived wines, assuming no cork failures and good storage/provenance. Honeyed, roasted peach, candied citrus, ginger and toffee bouquet. Baked Meyer lemon, orange marmalade, cold coffee and nut bar appear on the palate. Complex, concentrated and fresh – fantastic balance of acidity and sweetness."
97/100 Wine and Spirits (2011 Vintage)
"Yiannis Argyros was the king of Vinsanto before his death in 2012; he carried on a tradition that predates that of Tuscany’s sweet wines. His son, Matthew, now continues the tradition, seeing the wines through long barrel aging to take on their characteristic complexity. Although this is one of the estate’s younger wines, it’s spectacular. A blend of assyrtiko with aidani and athiri, late-harvested and sun-dried on a pumice plateau, this aged in oak barrels for four years. It stuns with its power, the acidity and sugar delivering honeyed flavors with spine-tingling intensity. It tastes of butter toffee and orange zest, vanilla and lemon, with herbal notes that accent its briskness and clarity. Masterful."
95/100 Wine Advocate, Mark Squires (2011 Vintage)
"The 2011 Vinsanto 4 Years Barrel Aged is a traditional blend, mostly (80%) Assyrtiko, with the rest evenly divided between the island's typical blending grapes, Aidani and Athiri. It comes in with 13% alcohol, 225 grams of residual sugar and 7.34 of total acidity. The grapes are sun-dried for 10 days and then spend four years in barrel. As I've said before, it's easy to get into the habit of saying that the 4 Year Vinsanto is grossly inferior to the 12 or 20, which are unusual creatures. I think, in the long run and most of the time, I prefer the complexity of the older wines, and they have something extra—but not always. The 4 Year level mostly won't pull in the very highest scores, but they compete well in general, and this year in particular. It is shockingly complex for a relative youngster, with hints of baked peach and caramel. It is hardly a sugary and syrupy concoction. In fact, it is impeccably balanced, the intensity countering the sugar well. It seems more like a longer-aged Vinsanto in this incarnation, not as rich and as exuberant as the younger ones typically are, but better structured and far more nuanced. The supporting structure defines the fruit. There's a powerful, gripping and textured finish. It seems serious and precise. Unlike the older Vinsantos here, it adds appealing freshness to that power and complexity. It's terrific. This is a fine vintage for it, and right now it strikes me as the best I've yet seen in the 4 Year"
Variety | Assyrtiko |
---|---|
Region | Santorini |
Closure | Cap |
Volume | 500ml |
Alcohol | Usually 13.00% |
Maturity | 2020 - 2049+ |
This Wine Goes Well With
Taste
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