Petritis Kyperounda winery
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Why we have to age wines?
If we want to get the best of the white wines, we have to know when are in their pick.
How do we understand which wines can age and which cannot?
We can age white wine with:
• High acidity
• Oak treatment
• Alcohol levels from 12% to 14% vol.
• High sugar levels
• vines come from low yield vineyards
Which white wines are best to be drinking fast and they cannot age well?
Usually depend on the grape variety. Some grapes are fruity and refreshing and they are powerful in their first six months to a year of bottling.
One of these varieties is Xynistery, indigenous grape variety of Cyprus very widely growing around. It is 33% of all grapes growing in Cyprus. We use Xynistery in bland with Mavro for making Commandaria and Zivania.
But can we keep Xynistery wines longer in our cava?
The answer is No and Yes.
No, if we talk about wine without oak treatment.
And yes if we have oak treatment Xynistery as we can see and taste in Petritis Kyperounda wine.
I had unique ageing tasting at Kyperounda winery on 20th of November this year. We start our vertical tasting of Petritis from 2003 and finishing with the new vintage of 2019. I have tasted 12 different vintages with another 14 Sommeliers of Cyprus part of Cyprus Sommelier Association https://www.facebook.com/cyprussommeliersassociation/ .
Thank you to Kyperounda winery and ofcourse thanks to Minas and Olga Karakokkinou for their tastings and master classes.
We start with 2019 the newest vintage which was fresh, aromatic and floral. I can easy detect lemon zest, lemon verbena, soft minerality (crush rocks) and some tropical aromas as bananas and pineapple. The wine is dry and has long after taste, high acidity and full body.
2015 vintage was my second best choice after 2009 vintage. What was the most interesting in our vertical tasting? That using barrel for Xynistery we keep longer refreshing taste and aromas of this unique grape.
2015 vintage of Petritis was much more tropical pineapple, passion fruit, ripe banana and crush stones. I had full mouth taste of bananas and saltiness. It was so soft and easy going wine. That if it was blind tasting I will never say we have four years old wine. When we talk about good white wines ageing we are always say that Chablis has structure to aged more than twenty years.
What means structure in wines?
The wine has balance acidity and alcohol levels.
2009 vintage of Petritis was so deferent from 2019 that I get lost from herbal character, nuts, dry lemon zest and even dry bananas. It was full develop mouth taste of dry herbs, almond, pineapple and lemon pie. We have ten years old wine develop and well complex with long fennel and citrus after taste.
Do we have to age Cypriot white wines?
Yes, we have.
Why we have to age Cypriot wines?
Grapes grow in areas as Pitsilia with high altitude and low yield, are grapes that exist with much more intensity flavors and aromas, it can be developed well with ageing.
Do not lose the chance of having a bottle of Petritis in your cava for ageing!
You can buy now and drink it after four or even ten years and get best of it.
But if you like fresh and aromatic wine drink the new vintage now.
