Cuvee Monsignori is Estate Argyros’ vision on what Santorini Assyrtiko can actually be. Excessively old Assyrtiko vineyards, at least two hundred years old, giving minute yields. Fermented, partially uninoculated, in stainless steel, at cool temperatures and aged for ten months in stainless steel tanks on fine lees. A wine of breed, extract and length, that needs about four years in bottle to unfold and can be confidently kept for more than a decade after vintage.
Vineyard selection: Selected parcels from Episkopi
Vine age: Over 200 years old, ungrafted.
Vintage description: A mild winter with low rainfall, 155 mm total, followed by a warm, dry, windy spring. A summer without significant heat waves and continuously high temperatures, but some cool winds reduced hydric stress and disease pressure. Harvest was ten days early.
Harvest: 2nd decade of August
Yield: 14 hl/ha
Fermentation: In stainless steel vats, at a controlled temperature of 16-17° C, lasting almost three weeks, partially uninoculated.
Maturation: Eleven months in stainless steel vats, on fine lees with occasional batonnage – three times per week for the first two first months and with diminishing frequency thereafter.
