By Rose Murray Brown MW   Published in The Scotsman 18 January 2025

One of the most interesting tastings I attended last year was focused on just one grape – and one region.  It was a grape I had barely heard of – let alone tasted – and there is a reason for this.

The grape variety in question was Savatiano – and Attica the region.  Savatiano is an indigenous white grape and currently Greece’s most planted covering 10,500 hectares – one sixth of the country’s vineyards.  90% of Attika, Greece’s oldest and largest wine region next to Athens, is planted with this grape.

As our guide Yiannis Karakasis MW explained – “It’s time to highlight recent developments with Savatiano, including dry farming (no irrigation), low yields and extended bottle age used to enhance concentration and complexity.  As a grape you might find it bears some similarity to Semillon, with honeyed notes and toasty smoky undertones even when unoaked”.

Now – before I continue with Karakasis’ next comments – I urge you to not to be put off and to read on.

He continued by telling us: “Savatiano is best known as the grape commonly used to make Retsina and has thus been something of a workhorse grape.  Ten years ago the growers treated it like Pinot Grigio making dull wines, but now they are taking the grape seriously making quality wines which do not have any pine resin added”.

So that is, of course, why I have never bothered with Savatiano, as I am not a great fan of resinated wines.

Karakasis urged us to initially forget about Retsina – and to concentrate on Savatiano’s diversity.  Our tasting focused on nine wines from different wineries (with no pine resin added) – four aperitif-style and five gastronomic-style.

The first four wines included classic tank vinification to show off the grape’s primary fruits (quince and apricot) and some with lees ageing (richness and creamy texture).  According to Karakasis, the trend today with Savatiano is more towards longer lees ageing, as it is cheaper than using oak.  The examples made by Kokotos, Papagiannakos, Anastasia Fragou and Strofilia wineries showed the grape well.  So good, so far.

The second wines were a mixed bag including Mylonas Cuvee Vouno 2022 which had long lees ageing and extended time in bottle (three years), Strofilia’s Savatiano 2023 matured in acacia and Markou’s Phenomena 2022 oak aged.  My verdict was that they were all high quality well made wines – but Savatiano works better with lees age, rather than with oak.

My favourite wines of the tasting were two skin-contact Savatianos (orange wines) which I thought worked particularly well.  Aoton Savatiano 2022 from late picked grapes given 10-day skin contact was particularly good (see our star buy) – whilst Nikolou’s Savatiano Yellow 2023 with 30-day skin contact had more herby bitter notes.

To finish the tasting, Karakis showed us three Savatianos which were Retsinas, made by Papagiannis, Liepouris & Gikas wineries.  Historically this style emerged because wine in large clay amphora was sealed with resin (Aleppo Pine), but then the Greeks took a likely to the taste so it was added to the wine, used to cover up inferior quality and Retsina became a ubiquitous Greek bistro wine.

Today legislation and winemaking methods have changed – only 1kg resin per hectolitre of wine is permitted and the wine is always non-vintage.  Good Retsina is made with good resin sap.  The three Retsinas we tasted were all high quality, the best from Papagiannis (not available in UK) with its orange blossom notes and light lemony resiny undertones – at best served chilled.

Our final discussion revolved around whether Retsina would ever make a comeback.  Personally I loved the earlier part of the tasting showing Savatiano grape in its purest form, but I was still not converted to the pine resin style, although I can see it working with rustic Greek cuisine or matching with herby barbeque sausages.  However – right behind me at this tasting was Lidl’s wine buyer who was smiling in apprehension – so watch this space!

SAVATIANO WINES TO TRY (not resinated):

SAVATIANO OLD VINES 2022 Domaine Papagiannakos ***STAR BUY***

£15.50 Drinkmonger, Edinburgh; Noble Green; ND John

Baked apple, dried herbs, dry palate with good ripeness and depth from one of the best Savatiano winemakers.

SAVATIANO 2023 Kokotos

£17 Maltby & Greek

More citric, light pear notes, slight bitter orange – lean minerally style from higher altitude Stamata.

SAVATIANO MV Strofilia

£17.50 Clark Foyster

Mix of 2022 and 2023 vintages aged in acacia: soft rounded, creamy attractive, good depth.

SAVATIANO 2023 Mylonas

£19 Epinoia; Maltby & Greek

Long lees ageing and 3 years bottle age – very toasty, smoky, creamy lees fill mid palate, rich and intense, good quality.

SAVATIANO 2022 Aoton ***STAR BUY***

£19.50 Cornelius Wine, Edinburgh; Southern Wine Roads

Wild yeast fermented with short skin contact and lees stirring – honeyed, toasty, spicy meaty, rich and intense, almost botrytis notes.  Try with roast chicken or aged Gruyere cheese.

Join Rose’s Champagne v Sparkling Wine Tasting in Edinburgh on 10 July www.rosemurraybrown.com