An instance of nature imitating art the colourcoded diversity in a geology map of the Greek vineyard is a child of seismic activity Its ramifications reach beyond the Richter scale It may have something to do with the fact that there is always a gutsy individual to take on the establishment and carve out a difficult yet ultimately rewarding path Nikos Vakakis fits this mould For this online map of the anthropogeography of Greek wine Nikoss background is unique The son of a village priest he joined the army and became a commando officer Now 52 military retirement in hand he has become the first allnew boutique producer on Samos in 77 years In 1934 civil unrest broke out on Samos as farmers attacked the wine merchants Merchants greed which made them pay pittance for choice grapes eventually brought their demise The government stepped in and decreed as obligatory the creation of a Union of Cooperatives This monopoly became obsolete when Greece became member of the European Union Greece being Greece this did not go down without a fight Vakakis was one of the clutch of individuals who fought this in the Courts of Brussels Samos is now free of such anachronisms anyone can invest Why would anyone want to For good reason Samos is home to some of the finest high Muscat grapes The northfacing densely planted terraces on the aptly named Ampelos vine Mountain which date from the 16th century may be recent so to speak for a region of the Mediterranean where wine trading has been documented for over 2500 years Yet its prominence was earned on merit The potential of this island vineyard in the eastern Aegean remains largely unknown Thanks to this new and other soon to follow endeavours we can start discovering more of its facets The French have a description for Vakakiss first effort cuve montagnard Checking in at 9201000 m and amongst pine trees This altitude also offers high natural acidity which brings balance in sweet wines The Moschato aspro muscat a petit grains vines are 60 years old New to wine Vakakis has drafted as consultant Dimitris Skafidas the longstanding oenologist at Domaine Mercouri The grapes are dried in a novel approach 2530 days under the shade of olive groves This labourintensive change of desiccation pace is inspiring As Greek wine weathers the current economic turbulence this new departure is worth following closely
13 ABV Residual sugar 105 grl Pale yellow White flowers and flint aroma Peach that follows through on the lemonlychee finish Scintillating freshness Satintextured viscosity Racy Ethereal Best 20122017
Wine: Moschato VND Vakakis Wines Samos
Year: 2011
Score: 18
Type: White
Variety: Muscat
Area: Aegean Islands