Hi-Time's Top Wines from Eastern Europe
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "Made with fruit from ungrafted Assyrtiko basket vines, the barrel-aged Gai'a 2020 Santorini Nychteri opens to a glossy texture and pretty aromas of orange skin, kumquat and honeycomb. You feel the concentration and the complexity of old-vine fruit. Beyond those soft fruit tones is an unmistakable hint of saltiness that comes in with island sea breezes. This white wine has a medium-plus body with good freshness to close. The 2020 is the second vintage produced, and this wine is more robust compared to the 2023 that I also tasted."
Literally on the beach near the Santorini airport, the tasting room is located in a former restaurant that went bust. The winery is located in an ex-tomato factory. The estate counts 12 hectares of vines with seven hectares spread about the island and five hectares near the winery in Kamari. Total Gai'a production including Nemea is 700,000 bottles, with just 60,000 made on Santorini. In 2023, that second number declined to 45,000 bottles.
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "Made with fruit from ungrafted Assyrtiko basket vines, the barrel-aged Gai'a 2020 Santorini Nychteri opens to a glossy texture and pretty aromas of orange skin, kumquat and honeycomb. You feel the concentration and the complexity of old-vine fruit. Beyond those soft fruit tones is an unmistakable hint of saltiness that comes in with island sea breezes. This white wine has a medium-plus body with good freshness to close. The 2020 is the second vintage produced, and this wine is more robust compared to the 2023 that I also tasted."
Literally on the beach near the Santorini airport, the tasting room is located in a former restaurant that went bust. The winery is located in an ex-tomato factory. The estate counts 12 hectares of vines with seven hectares spread about the island and five hectares near the winery in Kamari. Total Gai'a production including Nemea is 700,000 bottles, with just 60,000 made on Santorini. In 2023, that second number declined to 45,000 bottles.
