Gaia Wines '4-6H' Agiorgitiko Rosé

One of the pioneers of the modern Greek wine revolution Gaia Estate was established in 1994 by Greek winemakers Leon Karatsalos and Yiannis Paraskevopoulos. Operating from two different wineries in the important wine growing regions of Nemea and Santorini, they have earned a reputation for making cutting-edge wines. Gaia's main aim is to explore the boundaries and present the potential of the indigenous Greek grape varieties to wine enthusiasts worldwide.

2023 was extremely challenging in Nemea. An unusually wet spring with continuous rainfall led to problematic flowering, thus very low yields, some 35% less than 2022. The wet spring was followed by strong summer heatwaves however, the grapes for the rosé wines which are grown at altitude escaped the drought effects. Finally, strong rains storms during harvest completed the complicated vintage. However, careful vineyard management resulted in quality wines, albeit a lower quantity. Rosé wines were a standout, delightfully crisp and aromatic.

Agiorgitiko is a fragrant red wine grape native to Greece's Peloponnese Peninsula. The grapes come from a vineyard in the Asprokambos area of the Nemea PDO. The climate is Mediterranean, with mild, fairly wet winters and long, hot and relatively dry summers. The 15 to 30 year old vines are grown at altitudes ranging from 800 to 1,040 metres above sea level. The vines are trained according to the double Cordon Royat method, with short pruning to two buds. The soil consists of compact lime pebble conglomerates and marls with layers of loose sediments. The grapes were carefully selected grapes and hand-picked at optimum maturity.

The grapes were placed in cooling chambers where the temperature was rapidly lowered from 28 to 30°C to just 4 to 6°C within a few hours. Having been chilled, the grapes were destemmed, crushed and cold soaked at temperatures of 8°C for approximately four to six hours (hence the name of the wine '4-6H' ). The entire batch was then pressed and the free-run must and first press juice were retained. Fermentation took place with selected yeasts at controlled temperatures of 16 to 18°C and lasted for two weeks. The wine was gently fined, cold stabilised and underwent minimal filtration prior to bottling.