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Buy OnlineAssyrtiko is the white grape variety native to Santorini in Greece. It was on vacation here that Peter Barry discovered the variety and thought it may suit his vineyards back in the Clare Valley. On returning home and making enquiries he found that there was no Assyrtiko growing there, so he set about importing and establishing rootstock. Made as a fresh, dry white. Maybe think a softly textured dry Riesling. Flavours of lemon blossom, honeydew melon with a lovely mineral purity. Intriguingly different and very good.
Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"The 2023 Assyrtiko is fresh and electric, with dried lemon flesh, lime juice, bay leaf, and fresh pink grapefruit juice aromas. The palate shows powerful fruit weight with generous fruit f lavours, and a clean acid line. A very long drive with slight salinity on the finish. This could be the best Assyrtiko we’ve produced yet."
93/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, September 2023 (2023 Vintage)
"Well, this is the seventh vintage of this wine we’ve reviewed, and I think it’s getting better and better… Lots of crunch, plenty of bite. It’s frisky, lemon zest, green apple and aromatic herbs, a little fennel. Texture is excellent, along with fresh thirst-slaking quinine-laced dryness, and a juicy/dry finish of excellent length. Very good. Energetic. Delicious."
93/100 Mike Bennie, James Halliday's Wine Companion (2023 Vintage)
"It's a light and lean white wine, energetic and vivid in its delicate yet nuanced expression. Cucumber, tonic water, lemon juice and talc-like mineral characters with alpine herb elements in play. Attractive, powdery dry texture with a briny, minerally element assisting. A statement wine with intent for warm days and beach-side drinking. Really well done, and kudos due for the pioneering with the variety in Australia."
90/100 Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Real Review (2023 Vintage)
"Almost colourless white wine with a little tingle of gas at the edge. It smells really zesty and alive. Citrus aromas like Kaffir lime meet the nose, along with a hint of sea breeze and some steely notes. It tastes ripe and tangy, with plenty of juicy, green-apple fruit and a minerally, dry finish."
