Sigalas Santorini Assyrtiko 2020

The 2019 Santorini Assyrtiko, the flagship 100% Assyrtiko, is unoaked, dry (1.5 grams of residual sugar, 6.4 of total acidity and a pH of 3.08) and comes in at 14% alcohol. It was bottled in November 2019, sourced from vines over 70 years in age, all non-grafted. Solid in the mid-palate but without the very ripe nuances that some bigger wines on Santorini can acquire, this has fine structure to support the fruit and a great finish. The clean, dry and serious finish is lovely. It seems elegant and a bit understated, perfectly crafted and balanced—in other words, pretty typical. As is also typical, it always shows better the next day. This wine just has too much going on to show well in its youth on first pour. It looks splendid and able to develop over some years. It should improve, not just hold. I tend to think this will eventually overtake the 2018 Kavalieros this issue (a late release), but that is certainly more evolved and showing better today. (MS) (6/2020)

This is super savory yet succulent, like sucking salt water off a stone, with a smooth, round texture that’s a hallmark of Paris Sigalas’s wines. Not as ripe as his 7 Villages wines, this is refreshing to drink now, though the steely acidity promises to preserve this well for many more years in the cellar. (8/2020)