Gramina

The king of Greek grapes, Assyrtiko is not only one of the country’s most noble grapes, but also one of the most versatile, capable of producing bone dry to lusciously sweet wines and everything in between. A grape so deeply linked to the island; it is capable of reflecting minute differences in terroir.

Despite how long we in the wine world have used it, what terroir means to wine remains somewhat elusive. It captures big concepts like climate, aspect, soil, rainfall, sunshine hours, and even tradition, like Santorini’s basket vines. Essentially, terroir means somewhereness. We exalt wines that come from great terroir because they taste like somewhere. Whereas wines of lesser caliber taste like anywhere. One cannot artificially create somewhereness. So, when we find it, we celebrate its greatness.

Gramina comes from the Latin for ‘field’ and we knew that we had a very special one in Vourvoulos. Well, not an entire field, but a very special plot. Its generally homogenous character with respect to the age of the vines, their aspect, the high percentage of Assyrtiko, and the plot’s elevation all came together to grace our somewhereness with a little extra magic.

In order to not depreciate the magic, we pay extra attention each year when creating our Gramina. We get up before the sun does to ensure that grapes go from picking to pressing in under two hours. After fermenting in stainless steel tanks, the wine matures on its lees for 12 months, then rests for a further seven months in the bottle.

The end result is a cuvée du vigneron of structure and concentration. This full-bodied wine has all the exuberance of Santorini Assyrtiko’s intense mineral and smoky character with complex layers of  ripe citrus fruits, stone fruits, flowers, toast, and saline.