Vinsanto 'Heritage'

Score

96

"From the estate's Heritage Releases, the Estate Argyros 1982 Vinsanto offers a remarkable snapshot of Santorini sweet wine after more than four decades of aging. Made from sun-dried Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidani sourced from ungrafted vines more than 200 years old in Episkopi, the wine spent its entire life in exhausted old oak barrels before bottling in April 2024. Deep espresso in color with amber highlights and a faint green tinge at the rim, it opens to aromas of cola, teriyaki, caramel candy, cooked persimmon, mint and laurel leaf. The palate is extraordinarily creamy and viscous, showing flavors of burnt butter and concentrated dried fruit carried across an unctuous texture balanced by fresh acidity. Produced in just 3,500 bottles, the wine offers impressive richness and maturity, although opulent sweetness is the protagonist. More than a conventional dessert wine, it is a fascinating historical artifact that reveals the extraordinary longevity of Santorini's Vinsanto."