Hatzidakis: Assyrtiko de Mylos Vielles Vignes 2016

Parker über: Assyrtiko de Mylos Vielles Vignes

-- Parker: The 2016 Assyrtiko de Mylos Vielles Vignes is, as the winery indicated, from '[o]ver matured grapes from old Assyrtiko vines of the single vineyard “Mylos”’ at the village of Pyrgos Kallistis, cultivated at altitude 270 meters in volcanic soil of Santorini. Age of vines is around 100 years.' It comes in at 14.1% alcohol. This is often a big Santorini, going for the gold. This year, it certainly wins some. As powerful and as ripe as it is—which I always expect—everything works well as it flows over the palate. It is never over the top. In fact, the next day, with more air and warmth, too, it is the structure that is more impressive. The grip and tension on the finish are exceptional as well, a fine counter to the big, tasty fruit. I decanted it just for fun. That made it better still. On the third day, the fruit was still exceptionally tasty, but there wasn't a hint, unless you tasted it on the first pour, that the wine had been open for three days. Overall, this seems pretty spectacular this year. It needs to age well to justify the rating, to be sure. It should—the winery thinks a decade should be easy. I tend to agree, but it is probably a moot point—I'm not sure anyone will keep their hands off of it for that long. There were approximately 4,000 bottles produced. 95/100