2017 Hatzidakis Santorini Skitali

When Haridimos Hatzidakis died in 2017, he left behind a lone tank of assyrtiko that was still resting on its lees. After tasting it, the team was inspired to create Skitali. ÒIt means Ôbaton,ÕÓ says Constantina Chrisou, his widow. ÒIt was something heÕd given us, passed on.Ó Her daughter, winemaker Stella Hatzidakis, blended this 2017 using very ripe fruit from Pirgos and a smaller contribution from Megalochori; she fermented it in stainless steel and left it on the lees for a year. At 14.5 percent alcohol, itÕs a big wine, staunch and meaty in build, yet entirely charming, welcoming in its juicy pear flavors, and cheerful in its tangelo and honey notes. And amazingly, it ends clean, with a cleansing salinity. ÒHaridimos loved old Santorini, especially unoaked wines,Ó Chrisou told me. While this wine is delicious now, itÕs the sort of wine that would have delighted him with several more years in the cellar.