After a catastrophic 2002, the miracle Nemea vintners hoped for arrived. For 2003 was not just a good year but one of the best in recent memory for the 'ayorgitiko' variety of wines the Pelopponesian region, formerly known as "Ai-Yorgis" (St George), is known for. Ayogiorgitiko wines, considered among Greece's most promising dry reds, often remind international connoisseurs of Merlot.
Normally the ruby-coloured 'ayorgitiko' wine that Nemea produces as an EU -approved VQPRD product (i.e. a quality product created in a specific region) doesn't vary much from year to year. That's what wine chemist Vassilis Pirovolakis has noticed as director of wine production at Greek Wine Cellars D. Kourtakis S.A. . Nonetheless, he believes the 2003 harvest may be the best in two decades.
In 2002, rainy conditions during harvest time wiped out the grapes. Virtually no Nemea wine was bottled. Then, the next year, everything conspired to the producers' advantage. "Conditions were ideal," says Pirovolakis, from the time the first vine tendrils appeared, to the moment when the grapes were picked. By as early as 2005, wine-lovers will be able to buy the resulting dry wine, which is anticipated to have lots of body and delicate characteristics.
Wine chemist Christos Peppas, of the Nemea Wine Producers Cooperative agrees. He says the key was "sun and no rain." The Dijon -trained specialist believes that the wines, which will emerge from the region's cellars, will also have a very bright red colour and high (13-13.5%) alcohol level. The Nemea cooperative dates back to the 1930s and has some 1,700 members. It offers extensive wine-processing and storage facilities, but members are also free to sell their grapes elsewhere. Pirovolakis considers it one of Greece's most successful wine cooperatives, because producers get a good price for their in-demand product. As in most years, Greek Wine Cellars D. Kourtakis purchased about half of the cooperative's 2003 harvest. Kourtakis makes five different types of VQPRD Nemea wines, including one aged in barrels for two years or more.
Nemea quality
Nemeans have been crushing grapes in their fertile, sandy valley since at least Hercules sleeted the ferocious Lion of Nemea there. Since 1971, the region's ayorgitiko variety bears the EU-approved VQPRD label. To bear this label, wines must be created within a 21,000,000m2 region encompassing Nemea. Moreover, they must be aged, for at least a year, in oak barrels and pass stringent quality tests. Taste and alcohol content depends on producers' savvy as well as elevation, which ranges between 250 and 800 metres above sea level. The elevation considered ideal for dry ayorgitiko red wines is 350-600 metres.
While the most prestigious wines of the region are created by private vintners, such as the Gaia Estate, the Producers' Cooperative bottles its own small gamut of wines. These run from the white Hercules table wine (2003 production is already on the market) to the Nemea Reserve VPQRD wine. They also make a sweet VPQRD ayorgitiko wine. Some of their red wines not requiring ageing may be out in time for the summer of 2004. Even the lower-quality table wines will be of a higher calibre compared to other years, believes Nicolaos Yorgomanolis, head of the agriculture ministry's alcohol quality-control division.
In 2003, Nemea produced 61,670 hectalitres (hl) of wine. Of this, 50,000hl is VPQRD red wine, 10,000hl is table red wine and the remaining amount, white table wine. This may be a small percent of Greece's healthy 2003 total production of 3,800,000hl, but 2003 was indeed a year of quality – not quantity – in Nemea.
The 2003 crop was a boost to the region, says oinologist Peppas. But he says that even a year as bad as 2002 didn't make cooperative members consider leaving the business. The region’s tradition of wine, grape and raisin production can withstand a bad year, he believes. "It's what we do," concludes the wine professional who hails from a family of wine-producers.
