Wine & Spirits - Summer 2023 - 30

180-year-old Goutziamánis family cellar that is devoted to
Liastós (the dry wines are made in a newer facility down
the street). And that fermentation proceeds on a stop-andstart
pace for a year or more. Their 2008 vintage contains
a small percentage of much older stock recovered from
larger barrels coopered on site by Goutziamánis's ancestors,
as the doorway could not accommodate their girth.
A wine that lasts on the breath for minutes, with successive
waves of stewed fruits interwoven with flavors of toffee
and balsamic spice, it could be an imagined marriage
between a fine Recioto della Valpolicella and an old Bual
Madeira. It's not hard to see why, over 200 years ago, Col.
Leake singled this style out for particular praise.
While Diamantís also makes a brilliant Liastós, it is his
dry wines that are undergoing seismic change, all with an
eye to letting Siátista's particular ancestral vine material
and the area's unique soil signature speak clearly, unimpeded
by overt oak influence. Over the past several years,
Diamantís has been phasing out barriques and 550-liter
barrels in favor of larger vessels. In the new winery, still
under construction, a row of ten 2,500-liter Slavonian-oak
botti have arrived from Stockinger in Austria, joining even
larger tulip-shaped fermenters made of unlined concrete,
untoasted French oak tini, and one 800-liter clay amphora.
Most of his winery space will be devoted to aging xinómavro,
with a goal of 12 to 16 months in botti, and then
five to ten years in bottle prior to release. The scale of the
vision and of the new facility is massive, and it's made possible
by Diamantís's business partner since 2018, Georgios
Papageorgiou, a native of Siátista who is injecting a fortune
made in the fur trade into a variety of projects around his
hometown, from energy-producing windmills to preserving
the area's viticultural heritage.
T
he elevations are lower 22 miles to the east in
Velvendós (1,250 feet), where the vineyard exodus
was more recent: In 1973, the military junta then
running Greece built a hydroelectric dam on the Aliákmonas
River, sinking the valley's villages and vines under
the waters of the new Lake Polyphytou. It now takes an
hour to drive from Siátista (...or an hour and a half when
the bridge is closed, as it was for my visit). Though there
were once 250 acres of vines in Velvendós, the appellation
now is limited to 100 acres, created by villagers who didn't
join a mass exodus, instead reestablishing homes and vines
higher up the slopes of the surrounding mountains, taking
cuttings from their old vineyards with them.
Lake Polyphytou, a long, narrow reservoir covering over
18,000 acres and reaching a depth of 500 feet, has spawned
a major fishing industry (with fish topping 200 pounds).
It has also gentled the climate for the pear and peach
orchards and vineyards lining its southeastern shore.
Winemaker Yánnis Voyatzís explained that the mass of
water has changed the air circulation patterns in the area,
interrupting the flow of cold northern air in the winter,
and then absorbing heat during the summer. During the
growing season, breezes off the water serve to keep the
vines well ventilated.
The young Voyatzís got his first taste of Velvendós
wine and tsípouro (Greek grappa) at his father's tavern in
nearby Kateríni, before the damming of the river. He studied
chemistry in Thessaloníki, then oenology in Bordeaux
30
WINE & SPIR IT S
Summ ER 2023
XINOMAVRO IN GREECE'S
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS
Xinómavro's talent
for communicating
its origins, a transparency
to terroir,
places it in the class
of noble grapes. Add
in its characteristically
complex aromas,
high acidity, substantial
tannic structure,
and significant aging
potential, and it's
clear how xinómavro
has emerged as one
of the most important
varieties among
Greece's 300-plus.
The savory character
of xinómavro from
Náoussa reflects the
area's relatively low
altitude (650-1,150 ft)
and rolling hills made
of heavy clay. Nearby
Gouménissa, similar
in elevation (820-885
ft) and calcareous clay
soil, includes in its
wine some negóska,
another local grape
STORmY SPRING
IN VELVENDOS
that adds fruity flesh
to xinómavro's sterner
frame. On the edge
of two large lakes just
this side of Greece's
border with the
nation of North Macedonia,
Amíndeo's
high (1,970-2,460 ft),
wind-whipped sands
are evident in yet
another xinómavro,
a delicate yet firm
red full of finesse in
warm vintages, but
usually rendered as a
méthode champenoise
sparkler (either rosé
or blanc de noirs). To
the south, Rapsáni is a
wine comprising xinómavro
paired with
krassáto and stavrotó,
drawing on the gravel,
schist and sandy loam
soils of vineyards
draped across the
lower northern slopes
of Mt. Olympos.
These four regions
have all been awarded
Protected Denomination
of Origin status
(PDO), the highest
level of appellation for
Greek wine, equivalent
to a French AOC
or Italian DOCG.
Xinómavro is
often compared to
nebbiolo, and with
good reason: the two
varieties yield wines
with similar ratios of
fruit to acid to tannin.
There's a kinship
in their meldings
of earthy and floral
scents, as well as sharing
similar coloration
and aging profiles.
If Náoussa's wines
call to mind those
of the Langhe, and
Amíndeo's those of
Lessona, then, perhaps,
Siátista has an
analogue in Gattinara
and Velvendós in
Roero.
Wine & Spirits - Summer 2023

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