Domaine Karanika, Cuvee Blanc de Blanc Assyrtiko 2023

Karanika pioneered Assyrtiko at around 700 metres in Amydeon, discovering that the cooler conditions here allowed the variety a much longer ripening period than in its native Santorini.

For this wine, Laurens and Annette identified a tiny south facing vineyard whose gravel, sand and calcium rich, fossil-strewn soils seemed ideally suited to Assyrtiko. They waited seven years for the vines to mature before making this, their first single vineyard Blanc de Blancs.

Grapes were harvested at different stages of ripeness, de-stemmed and lightly crushed and pressed with only the free-run juice used. Fermentation took place spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in 600 litre barrels at controlled temperatures, with very low sulphur and no chemical additives.

A second fermentation in bottle was followed by 24 months ageing on lees. The bottles were hand disgorged and given a further 6 months in bottle before release. Just 1500 bottles were produced.

Domaine Karanika was founded by Laurens Hartman-Karanika and Annette van Kampen in Amyndeon, in the far north-west of Greece. Their organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards sit high on the Amyndeon plateau, where the cool continental climate has made Karanika particularly renowned for traditional method sparkling wines from indigenous grape varieties.