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η
Σαντορίνη ανακαλύπτει ξανά τα «ξεχασμένα» κρασιά της…
Σύμφωνα με το καλογραμμένο κείμενο της Zachary Sussman το
οποίο συνοδεύουν οι εξαιρετικές φωτογραφίες του Κλέαρχου Καπούτση,
Santorini
Rediscovers Its Forgotten Wines
The dominant
style of Santorini white wines—brisk, acid-driven and clean—are actually a very
modern creation. Zachary Sussman explores a crop of producers reinterpreting a
pre-industrial, barrel-fermented style known as “Nykteri"—a far more
accurate representation of the island's winemaking past.
SEPTEMBER 2,
2014 story: ZACHARY SUSSMAN photo: KLEARCHOS KAPOUTSIS
When Homer
famously wrote of the “wine-dark sea”—a poetic turn of phrase that recurs
throughout the Illiad and the Odyssey—he didn’t specify the kind of wine he had
in mind. The sea in question, of course, is the Aegean, which surrounds the
tiny island of Santorini, but a lot has changed since the Trojan War. Today,
the area has been receiving attention mostly for its whites, which taste of the
sea, even if they don’t resemble it.
In many ways,
Santorini entered the critical spotlight in the typical manner, hailed as one
of the latest little-known wines to be “discovered” by adventurous sommeliers
and journalists. Read any article on the subject—by now, there are dozens—and
you’re bound to encounter the same basic talking points. At the risk of
redundancy, here’s a brief summary:
Unlike just
about everywhere else in Europe, Santorni’s sandy, volcanic soils miraculously
resisted the 19th-century phylloxera epidemic that wiped out most of the
continent’s vines. As a result, the island survives as one of the few European
growing areas still using its original, un-grafted rootstock. Adding to this
sense of geographical uniqueness—and as if specifically designed for
journalistic photo-ops—the island’s growers adopt a unique training system
called kouloura, whereby vines are woven into nest-like baskets close to the
ground to retain moisture and shelter the grapes from wind.
All of this, the
argument goes, combined with the native Assyrtiko grape’s inherent mineral cut,
distinguishes Santorini as one of the Mediterranean’s most distinctive wines: a
crisp yet deeply textured white that faithfully translates its inimitable place
of origin.
On the basis of
“geek factor” alone, the wines couldn’t help but appeal to a younger, more
curious generation of drinkers, for whom the region’s idiosyncratic backstory
has quickly become a cult fascination. Yet whenever the industry champions
something new—or to put it more precisely, new to them—it never fails to make
comparisons to more familiar wines.
Where Santorini
is concerned, the reference point to which everyone keeps returning is none
other than Chablis. The following comments from New York Times critic Eric
Asimov exemplify this tendency: “These wines [from Santorini] in particular
show pure briny, mineral flavors, as if they were the concentrated essence of
millions of tiny seashells. Not once but several times during the blind tasting
a comparison was made to Chablis, which cuts a similarly saline profile.”
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