Forget sweet Samos. Evmorfia Kostaki makes dry Muscat | Sparks 37

<p>Samos is supposed to mean sweet dessert wine. Evmorfia Kostaki and her partner Lorenz Immerfall are trying to change that from a vineyard above Karlovasi that has been Muscat for more than a hundred years.</p><p><br></p><p>The vineyard has been certified organic since 2000, the first organic vineyard on Samos. The vines are propagated by massal selection, cutting buds from the next terrace over, so the plant material is unique to this site. Evmorfia studied Chemistry at the University of Athens, then Viticulture and Oenology with Vinifera Euromaster between France, Italy and UC Davis. She picked up the WSET Diploma alongside the masters and is now in stage two of the Master of Wine programme.</p><p><br></p><p>We taste three wines.</p><p><br></p><p>The Prototype sparkling is traditional method but uses no commercial yeast or sugar. The 2023 base wine was aged in barrel for a year, then blended with actively fermenting must from the next vintage. That fermenting must brought its own sugar and its own indigenous yeast for the second fermentation. 500 bottles, all sold through their Greek distributor.</p><p><br></p><p>The Kostaki Dry is the most complex wine in the range. Floral, Mediterranean herbal, faintly hazy. A touch of orange-wine grip on the gums even though it is a clean white.</p><p><br></p><p>The Early Harvest is 9 percent alcohol with grapes picked early. Off-dry sweetness against sharp acidity creating tension. Closest in spirit to a Mosel Kabinett, but with a Greek herbal accent and a Muscat lineage.</p><p><br></p><p>We also cover why Muscat does not get taken seriously, why organic farming on Samos is harder than on Santorini, the meltemi wind, gobelet bush vines as natural umbrellas, lightweight UV-protective brown bottles, screwcaps, women in Greek wine, and what the next five years of Samos winemaking could look like.</p><p><br></p><p>The wines are not yet imported into the Netherlands. If you are an importer, this episode is your nudge.</p><p><br></p><p>Kostaki Winery: kostakiwinery.gr</p><p>Instagram: instagram.com/kostakiwinery</p><p><br></p><p>VinoVonk: vinovonk.com</p><p>In het Glas newsletter: vinovonk.com/nieuwsbrief</p><p><br></p><p>Chapters</p><p>00:00 Why Samos is not just sweet wine</p><p>01:30 Welcome to Samos and Karlovasi</p><p>03:30 From chemistry to winemaking</p><p>06:00 The 100-year-old massal-selection vineyard</p><p>08:00 More rain than London, the climate of Samos</p><p>11:00 Why Muscat is so hard to grow well</p><p>14