What is Assyrtiko? Grown on the volcanic soil of the Greek island of Santorini, it is a white wine that when good, is a summer wind by the sea made into taste and smell.
Last night I had the 2009 Hatzidakis Assyrtiko from Waitrose with hot salmon, fresh herbs and dijon mustard on ciabatta and, although it is not a traditional Greek dish, it is an excellent match for this wine: it created a wow moment of surprise (my x-factor).
For those who had too much cheap retsina on a package holiday in the Greek Islands during the 1990s: this wine will rock your preconceptions about Greek wine. What a breath of fresh air, to find a good Greek wine in the supermarket! There is no reason why Santorini AOC should not be more well-known: minerally, fresh and from a major Greek Island. The technology is now there to create fresh white wines, hopefully Hatzidakis will pave the way for more wines from this region.
Tasting with a handful of vine-ripened tomatoes before dinner lifted the wine to another level, and my friend suggested it was the methoxypyrazines that are working together in tomato and the Assyrtiko (the green tastes in wine, in this case: dried herbs). Whatever the science behind it, it was a fabulous tasting moment and overall, the clean taste with a light breath of thyme, is as complete as a walk home on a quiet track after an afternoon at the beach.
2009 Hatzidakis Assyrtiko, Waitrose, £9.99.
Image: Anna Karenina, "Pierrot Le Fou"
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