Gai'a - Thalassitis 2021
Price: $49.99
Sale Price: $39.99
In the south Aegean Sea, about seventy miles north of Crete, lies Santorini. The desert island is essentially the remains of an ancient volcanic cone, with no rain during the growing season, and strong, warm winds. Growing anything at all here is quite a feat! Over centuries, growers here have learned to train their vines into “baskets,” to both protect them from the extreme winds and to conserve what scant precious moisture that can be acquired from the morning mists. The landscape is quite surreal! All of these conditions contribute to extremely low yields from phylloxera free vines which can live hundreds of years.
In this rugged landscape, the Assyrtiko grape reigns supreme, and very few growers are as skilled at growing and fashioning these wines as the estate of Gai’a (pronounced Yay-ya). Founded in 1994, their mission has been to capture the best of Greece’s indigenous varieties through modern winemaking. The Estate is named after “Mother Earth” to honor the unique terroir that gives life to these wines.
Their flagship wine, Thalassitis, comes from 80 year old vineyards on the southeastern slope of the island, where grapes are hand-harvested before a short maceration and temperature controlled fermentation. The final wines are bottled without malolactic fermentation to retain the fresh acidity.
To put it succinctly, this wine is simply stunning: a gorgeous, layered, and evolving white with a bone-dry, mineral driven character. This is remarkable full-bodied while still incredibly fresh, with delicate honeysuckle notes, lovely orchard fruit, and the structure to evolve for many years. The finish seems to go for miles and miles. While it’s hard to nail down an exact parallel, the mineral character here is best reminiscent of premier cru, unoaked Chablis, though to find Chablis of this character, at this price, is a rarity. This will greatly reward your patience in the cellar, and if you decide to open a youthful bottle, it will also reward an hour or more in the decanter.
This is a classic pairing for seafood, fatty fish, and even poultry or Greek-styled lamb stewed in a lemon sauce.
Wine Advocate: 94+ Points
"The 2021 Thalassitis is an unoaked Assyrtiko, dry and coming in at 13.8% alcohol. Yep, "This is the Way." (If you are reading this and do not answer "This is the Way," just know that the Mandalorians will not be happy.) Bright, pure and a little tense, this shows off some power and adds a long and mouthwatering finish. It's elegant, precise and balanced too, not an overripe fruit bomb. This is completely unevolved today, looking like it desperately needs a couple of years to age. That will just help it settle down and evolve. It won't be at peak and should still be evolving at that point. It should hold for a decade from now and probably more. This looks like a terrific Thalassitis, oriented to structure but showing good fruit too. Where its ceiling ultimately is will not be fully clear for some years. For the moment, it is impressive and worth leaning up. Considering how top labels on Santorini have spiked in price, this is also a pretty reasonable price point."
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