Most of us who got into wine a long time ago (or who let wine get into us) grew up with a few MAJOR REGION/MAJOR VARIETAL pairings imprinted in our DNA:
*Bordeaux, and the Cabernet varietals
*Burgundy, and Pinot Noir
*Tuscany, and Sangiovese
Et cetera. Not much changed for decades. THEN… the late 20th-century newbies came along: Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Malbec from Argentina. Tannat from Uruguay, if you’re really cutting-edge. It’s not easy to gain placement on this chart, and very, very few regions ever make the ascent. It takes really distinctive wine to get on this chart… and, perhaps, really good marketing.
Well, I’m not sure about the marketing… but I have just been tasting, in situ, one of the most distinctive region/varietal pairings I have ever experienced. It has made some inroads onto wine lists across the US, through the auspices of hip sommeliers… but, based on the wines themselves… it should, without doubt, become the next DNA-implanted region in the world.
I speak of the wines made on Santorini from the amazing grape Assyrtiko.
I would opine that our newest arrivals on the list, such as Argentine Malbec, are worthy wines–but wines in styles we’ve seen before, owing their “newness” to, perhaps, an exaggeration of qualities that their predecessors had.
Assyrtiko is more than that. It is, at least for me, a new kind of white wine. It is strong and muscular–adjectives that usually betoken “oodles of fruit,” perhaps “low acid,” perhaps “tons of oak.”
Now, some Assyrtiko producers in Santorini are experimenting with oak on Assyrtiko, and doing it gracefully. But most Assyrtiko is unoaked–and is as high in acid, and as low in fruit as any rich white I have ever tasted. Stones is what you get, from the hard, volcanic soil, and a zing that tastes like lemon juice. Its profile is practically a paradox… a delicious one.
Santorini Assyrtiko is what you want NOW for your grilled fish (young Assyrtiko or old Assyrtiko)… and Santorini Assyrtiko is my candidate, in wine, for THE NEXT BIG THING.
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Just another wine nerd thinking he's found the next big thing…
NE Foodie added these pithy words on Jul 22 10 at 7:19 pm 
