2 | Wine | Greece | Page 3

"Ripe and sweet, with concentrated flavors of glazed apricot, orange peel, smoke and spice. The honeyed finish features vanilla and cream."

"The 2011 Chardonnay “Estate” is a bit of an overachiever. It is quite lovely, juicy, but fresh, clean and bright, with pretty nice solidity in the mid-palate. It has persistence on the finish and it is hard to resist. This is a nicely priced Chardonnay that is awfully tasty and provides bang for the buck. It may not last a long time, but it drinks awfully well young."

"Akakies is a full body rose made from estate grown Xynomavro grapes. Brilliant color with wild strawberries and acidity makes it a perfect companion to summer dishes."

"This blend has often been nice for the price, but it certainly seems to be trending upwards. With fine persistence and intensity, this is beautifully balanced and tightly wound, with better aromatics than the winery’s regular, unoaked Assyrtiko due to the blend (5% each of Athiri and Aidani added to the Assyrtiko), if not as much depth and intensity. This is simply lovely this year, one of the finest values in this report, transparent, focused and crisp, yet caressing and accessible. If you’re looking for fruity and sweet, this is not as likely to fulfill your goals. It is an overachiever, though."

"The 2010 Robola has evolved brilliantly with a little more time to settle down, finally showing better integration of its parts and revealing itself to be ageworthy as well. This is a rather obscure grape for most consumers and little understood. This shows what it is all about. Pulling this wine out of the refrigerator and tasting it promptly is a really bad idea. It is big and crisp. At 50?F or below, it was all acid, no fruit, austere, shrill and charmless. In the mid-fifties, I began to see hints of the wine I first saw again, and it did not really hit stride until it passed 60?F, finally becoming somewhat more fruit forward – relatively speaking. This, in short, not only remains lovely, but seems to have improved considerably, showing the ability to project both fruit and power. The finish is intense and gripping. It has somewhat grassy, but restrained nuances. It should hold better than I first thought, although I am going to remain a bit conservative, and it is not yet at peak. Just for a cherry on top, the price is nice, too."