Central Casting would assign Nikos Vakakiss bearded face as one of Ulysses traveling companions My teenage days of idolising heroes are long gone yet this priests son and retired elite commando officer is a modernday hero Holding his ground on the island of Samos fighting outdated legislature pushing Athens and Brussels to put an end to a statute of a Union of Cooperatives monopoly forced upon under a 1934 civil war between farmers and merchants In short he has helped bring what is arguably the most famous Greek wine name into the twentyfirst century More boutique producers are springing up now and that is only good news for the islands economy
The Samos landscape of densely planted terraces deserves to be listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site Neatly tended rows soar up a northeastern facing mountain named wait for it Ampelos ancient Greek for vine It is argued that the light of the morning sun brings definition to wine A particular site in Naoussa lies southoriented consistently lacking that magic which defines great terroir My mind was getting cluttered with such thoughts while on a stop at a farmers garden Sharp cheese a rusk wine from a mixture of grapes was on offer Hazy volatile gloriously rusthued I seized the moment of the day or so I thought and took a swig This out of condition beyond orange wine ferment may have had history in spades Enjoyable Not really Relax Max there are worse things in life In front of me a washed snowwhite sheepskin was set out to dry It looked not unlike a Cycladic marble figurine as it stood eerily silent on all four Who knows it may be turned into a tsabouna the Aegean islands very own bagpipe Below the simmering sea was pastelpink and platinumwhite With the previously described wine on offer I could not be under the influence Still it felt as if Ulysses and crew were lurking about ready to take off on more adventures Or was the Odyssey nothing more than an attempt to chart a navigation manual I wondered if fellow travellers had been as lucky as I now was enjoying my rustic bucolic surroundings where time seemed to have stopped Equanimity This stolen moment in lifes merrygoround came to an abrupt end as Vakakiss figure came into focus Lets go and see the 1100mhigh Muscat vineyard
As the 4×4 climbed higher on a surreal landscape resembling a road of greyslate rock nature changed There were deeprooted plane trees Also a pine forest The air was crisp Nature up here has not much in common with the midaltitude or lower terraces filled with citrus trees in the courtyard of Vakakis Winery The island has suffered largescale wildfires the scars are still present A flourishing maquis is struggling to bring nature back into balance From this vantage point one begins to understand what a blessed island for viticulture Samos is Diurnal temperature difference ditto for harvest dates A savvy winemaker can craft a blend Or if it stands on its own bottle a given year a single vineyard Vakakis has been honing his wine craft for ten years now The length of Ulysses travels
The 2013 white wine vintage is the most homogenous in years Samos is no exception Pale golden hued Apricot nuances acacia honey on the ever changing aromatics Layered fruit shows depth and complexity Waxy richness Not cloyingly sweet Creamy aftertaste with fine minerality Well balanced benefiting from a more useful and lesser than other styles ABV135 A refined sundried Muscat expression A dessert on its own sip it away from sticky desserts or chocolate Drink 2015 2019
Wine: Vakakis Fisikos Glykis PDO Samos
Year: 2013
Link: http://www.vakakiswines.gr
Score: 18
Type: Sweet
Variety: Muscat
Area: Aegean Islands