GAIA 14-18h Agiorgitiko Rosé – Go To The Greek

100% Agiorgitiko from Koutsi, Nemea, Greece.

Enjoy Californian wine with great deals.

SRP of $15 and available for as low as $12. Sample received courtesy New Wines of Greece for review purposes.

From the bottle:

“14-18h
The hours that the grape must remains in contact with the skins.

This bright rosé wine reveals the great versatility of the Agiorgitiko grape variety. Its name refers to the time of skin maceration which is between 14 to 18 hours. Best served at 46°F/8°C

13.0% Alcohol”

Today’s wine is the first of several that we will be featuring over the next few weeks that showcase a traditional Greek grape. First up we go to Peloponnese, which is the southernmost tip of Greece, for a wine made from Agiorgitiko — a grape variety that was given that name all the way back in 1460. This grape is usually made into a dry red wine, but today we’ll try it as a rosé wine.

It seems a bit ironic really that one of the oldest winemaking regions in the world has just recently come to be known for the quality of their wines. For all of us Reverse Wine Snobs however, this presents an opportunity to find some really delicious wine at a great price compared to other regions. And that’s exactly the case here.

The 2011 GAIA 14-18h Agiorgitiko Rosé Peloponnese begins with really marvelous aromas of strawberry and watermelon plus a little sea salt. Tasting the wine reveals good fresh acidity and a lively mouthfeel. There’s also plenty of juicy fruit (strawberry and watermelon just like the bouquet) as well as lots of sea salt-like mineral notes. This is a dry rosé but it still has lots of fruit flavor — it’s very different (and better) than a sweet rosé that has loads of residual sugar. The finish is all watermelon jolly rancher with a hint of pepper that lasts for quite awhile and also has some nice mineral notes that pop out underneath the fruit. Delicious and recommended!

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

Find out more about my rating system and check out the Wine Ranking to find all my reviews! You can sort by type of wine, cost, rating, etc. in the interactive spreadsheet.