Alpha Estate Turtles Single Vineyard Malagouzia 2023 (Greece) - Wine Review

Tonight's white wine review is an excellent Malagouzia from Greece. It arrived at the LCBO over the weekend and is featured as a Hand-Picked Gift in the August 24 LCBO VINTAGES New Release Collection.

It is produced by Alpha Estate, a winery that was established in 1997 by Makis Mavridis, an experienced viticulturist, and Angelos Iatridis, a chemist-oenologist. After gaining years of experience in their fields in Greece and abroad, they decided to create their own wines and settled in the Amyndeon region of Florina, Macedonia, in northwestern Greece.

Today, Angeliki Iatridou and Emorfili Mavridou, the daughters of the founders, carry on the knowledge and love for winemaking with passion, while respecting traditions and evolving to participate in Alpha Estate's common vision. They have a privately-owned 220 hectare vineyard with a unique ecosystem, but the soul of their work are the people that contribute every day to the dream, while respecting nature and using the most recent international standards in eco-friendly growing practices of sustainable viticulture and winemaking. All wines bearing the Alpha Estate label are crafted with professional know-how, experience, and with a team effort throughout all the stages from production to promotion.

The winery is located in the heart of the vineyard, thereby allowing the grapes to arrive at the winery in the shortest amount of time as possible in order to protect the grape's organoleptic characteristics. Moreover, the winery was designed to exploit gravity, which minimizes the stress experienced by the grape and wine, as well as constructed using materials that allowed for completely neutral atmospheric conditions inside the winery. Alpha Estate has also implemented an integrated Building Management System, which allows for remote monitoring of all machinery and mechanical functions. The cellar is located underground where wine is aged in casks at ideal and optimum conditions throughout the year.

This white wine is crafted with 100% Malagouzia that was grown in PGI Florina, one of the coolest and most mountainous PGI zones in Greece. The privately owned vineyard is planted on the Amyndeon plateau in northwestern Macedonia, within the "Turtles" sub-region that is situated at an average 670 metres above sea level, facing Mount Voras, and with northwestern exposure to the sun. The soil in this vineyard is sandy, with a sandy clay soil over limestone that has excellent drainage qualities. The climate in this area is semi-continental, with important rain and snowfall, while summers are generally fresh and dry, with a high diurnal temperature range and cool nights. Furthermore, the two neighbouring lakes, along with the prevalence of northwesterly winds, help regulate weather extremes and allow vine cultivation to thrive. After the grapes were harvested by hand in small picking baskets, they were destemmed, optically sorted, and then lightly crushed. With skin contact, it underwent a temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks, and spent two months "sur lie" with regular stirring.

The 2023 growing season began very dry, without the usual snowfall, and an almost warm winter, followed by a nice, cold spring. June was very wet and presented some challenges, while heatwaves arrived in July and stressed the vines. What saved and made the vintage were the warm days and cool nights during harvest. Let's see how this 2023 Malagouzia from Greece is tasting tonight...

Tasting Note:

ALPHA ESTATE TURTLES SINGLE VINEYARD MALAGOUZIA 2023 - Vegan, PGI Florina, Greece (#32161) (XD) - $18.95
100% Malagouzia. Intensely fragrant and highly aromatic, this has a lovely, attractive, complex, and perfumed nose of ripe grapefruit, lemon citrus, spring flowers, apple, tropical fruits, lychee, and fennel aromas with underlying minerals. On the dry, medium+ bodied, well-structured palate, it is lightly spicy with citrusy, grapefruit, apple, mineral, spring flowers, and lychee flavours supported by juicy, structured acidity. It has a fine, textured mouthfeel, plus some spice notes on the mid-palate. Nicely balanced with tangy citrus and mineral notes lingering on the exceptionally long finish. Highly recommended buy! Score: 91 pts

Other fine wines by Alpha Estate can be found at the LCBO or through their Agent - Kolonaki Fine Wines & Spirits.