2021 Vassaltis Assyrtiko Gramina

The 2021 Gramina Cuvée des Vignerons is all Assyrtiko, unoaked, harvested at night and coming in at 14.2% alcohol. These wines from Vassaltis in this report are all pretty expensive, so the preliminary question here is why you should trade up to this ($118) from the regular 2022 Santorini ($70). This is the better wine in my view, and not just because it has an extra year of bottle age. Whether it is worth the cost is up to you. Both wines have good depth and ripeness, but the clincher here is the structure. This is simply gripping on the palate, long and lingering. The structure lifts the fruit beautifully, and this becomes pointed and precise. It is also youthful and vigorous, seemingly primed to age very well. That remains to be seen, of course, but this looks like a beauty that can still improve. In particular, it can become more expressive with a little more bottle age. 95 points