ALS is the exceptional terroir driven dry white wine creation from three young Greek winemaking talents in Yiannis Papaoikonomou, Ilias Roussakis and Alexis Kolovos. Yiannis Papaoikonomou studied oenology in Athens before coming to Santorini in 2009 to work at Domaine Sigalas, where he worked as a vineyard manager (under the guidance of a consultant) and as an assistant winemaker. In 2013, Yiannis left Santorini to go to Chile (Vina Maquis), New Zealand (Oyster Bay) and France (Chapoutier) for further work experience and in 2015 he finally returned to Santorini to literally help build the Vassaltis Winery from scratch with Ilias Roussakis.
After working the 2023 harvest in South Africa, Yiannis returned back to Santorini to focus on his various projects including the magnificent ALS extreme terroir white wine. What makes this wine special is the way it retains all the characteristics that have made Santorini Assyrtiko great and certainly world famous – Salinity, acidity, nervy freshness, volcanic minerality, and its maritime influences both on the nose and palate. Top Santorini Assyrtiko whites are expensive wines to buy these days, but I can’t help feel than so many of the top names have struggled to reach the heights of quality seen in exceptional vintages like the 2017s. Nowadays, the wines just seem fatter, riper, oilier, less fresh, less mineral, less nervy, less saline and generally less volcanic… all the features that should set these great wines apart from other Greek white wines, especially the ones from the mainland. But then you taste wines like the ALS, and you realise that some producers are still making wines that resonate with quality!
The ALS 2020 was produced from a manually picked cluster selection in the vineyards on 24th August 2020. Harvested very early in the morning, the fruit from Santorini was then transported to Syros in a refrigerated truck where it underwent direct pressing with racking after 12 hours. After fermentation, the wine saw bâtonnage for four months and then lay “Sur Lie” for 13 months. The 2020 was bottled on the 10th February 2022. Production is very small, only circa 1,300 bottles, so you’ll need to be very quick if you are going to successfully buy a bottle.
ALS Extreme Terroir Assyrtiko 2020, Santorini, 13% Abv.
6.8g/l TA | 3.08pH | 0.3g/l VA
The 2020 dry white Assyrtiko from Yiannis Papaoikonomou and the Absinthos LP project is an incredibly vivid wine release that simply oozes volcanic terroir. A translucent pale straw yellow in the glass, the aromatics span the full array of mineral, herbal, and fruit notes all tightly wound under a magnificent maritime sea breeze veil. Wonderfully pure and precise, the wine reveals layer upon layer of briney salinity, basaltic rocks, roasted almonds, white toast, yellow plum, white peach, yellow citrus and green pear with a light dusting of dried green herbs. The palate too is packed full of flavour fireworks, conveying a real sense of seashore complexity, crashing waves, and volcanic beaches. This 2020 offers stunning fruit purity and a bright, salty, piercing acidity that is so integral to premium Santorini Assyrtiko. With a little more time in the glass, delightful hints of nectarine, oyster shell and hazelnuts develop, all intertwined with a delicious wet river stone basaltic minerality on the finish. Sublime balance, invigorating acids and a mouth-watering salinity make this one of the most impressive Assyrtiko’s produced from Santorini. Drink now and over the next 3 to 5+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)