Secret pour: Techni Alipias Red

Secret Pours
The wines we don’t put on the menu. Handpicked by Jeremiah, poured when you least expect it. Because some secrets are too good to keep—if you know to ask. This weeks secret pour...

Techni Alipias Red

Producer: Wine Art Estate

Vintage: 2019

Tasting Notes: Techni Alipias red utilizes the unique and extremely successful blend of Bordeaux-originating Cabernet Sauvignon with Greek Agiorgitiko, a variety that traveled from the Peloponnese to Northern Greece and is expressed gracefully through the terroir of Drama. Separate vinification of the two varieties. Cold soak of the skins to the juice prior to fermentation for a few days to transfer noble phenols and structure from the grapes, before the "appearance" of alcohol. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with regular pumping-over to extract color and tannins. After the malolactic conversion, the wine is transferred to French oak barrels, 1/3 new, for 12-month maturation. The wine is then blended and returns to the tanks for settling and bottling Notes of cherries, sour cherries and sweet spices from the Agiorgitiko, along with aromas of blackberries, pepper and leather from the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Appellation: PGI Macedonia (Greece)

Wine Type: Dry Red Wine

Grape Varietal: 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Agiorgitiko (Ah-yor-yeé –ti-ko)

Soils: Under conversion to organic viticulture, Handpicked

Farming: Sandy-Clay over limestone layers (Kali Vrisi), sandy-clay (Mikrochori).

Alcohol: 13.5%

Acidity: 4.9

Residual Sugar: 1.8 g/L

pH: 3.67

Aged: One year in French oak. 1/3 in new barrels and 2/3 in used barrels.

Food Pairing: Red meat and poultry with rich sauces (beef ragout, tenderloin stuffed with pistachios). Barbecue and wild game or pasta with red sauces.

Aging Potential: 10-15 years

Awards: 91 pts James Suckling