While tasting at Gaias NemeaKoutsi winery a few years back I was looking out of their tasting room Staring at me amongst their Aghiorghitiko vineyard was a patch of young vines I asked what clones and rootstock they were using I got a very different answer from the usually humdrum numbered codes and the like It is Syrah As the soil is marl it is a gamble replied Yianni Paraskevopoulos Thats news I said to myself Since Gaias inception in 1994 they have devoted their energies only to indigenous varieties
Syrah thrives on granitic slopes dusted with mica It does rather well on schist at various sites in the Iberian peninsula In Greeces fragmented vineyard this sun and wind grape has been taken to a variety of different latitudes microclimates and soil types With promising to very good results so far easily outperforming the darling of the 1980s and 1990s the ubiquitous Cabernet Sauvignon
Central Crete the red soils of Maronia on the northern Aegean shoreline and the sandylimestone bedrock of coolerclimate Amyndeon are three topperforming Syrah sites that spring to mind These early since the 1990s Syrahs display lovely aromatic complexity and flavours So you may ask how is this incomer adapting on a hillside in Nemea Having tasted 060708 vintages in cask solo it does not thrill me Muted aroma sweeter than Aghiorghitiko As they say it is no great shakes Thus far it is of mild interest a work in progress The answer lies in the cellar and not in the vineyard This FrancoHellenic marriage does become something rather different when blended and in bottle The Koutsi terroir dominates the Syrah packing it with finesse and toning down the pepper and other usual Syrah aromatics fireworks It is a clever blend With 70 of Aghiorghitiko it essentially becomes a new type of wine Think of it as a mixedblood wellmannered cosmopolitan Does it have a raison detre Unreservedly yes Are we witnessing the birth of a super Nemea as Tuscany experienced in the 1970s Quite possibly but only time will tell So far the allindigenous Gaia Estate is superior That Syrah patch yielded enough in 2007 to produce 7614 numbered unfiltered bottles Pricewise Gaia S sits just below Gaia Estate As the first two vintages sold out within 48 hours even with the current economic downturn there seems to be a demand for the new and unusual
Youthful purple rim Medium dark Seductive floral aroma with sweet berry notes Round and juicy Warm fruited Long and intensely flavoured oozing black cherries Bold but soft tannins Vanilla notes meshed with Koutsi signature limestone mineral Still raw Worth decanting Best 201117
Wine: Gaia S
Year: 2007
Link: http://www.gaia-wines.gr/
Score: 17.5
Type: Red
Variety: Agiorgitiko
Area: Peloponnese