Aidani is another of those hidden gems of the Greek vineyard. It ranks as second on the island of Santorini (Assyrtiko is in the first place). Six producers include a 100% varietal wine among their wines. It is also used occasionally to complement the dry Santorini blend in a portion of up to 25%. But, in reality, we have very little information about this variety and this is something which intrigues me. I like to try to get to the core of things; to understand a variety and to present my findings and conclusions.
Therefore, another blind tasting was scheduled for karakasis.mw, in order to break down, typicity, styles and aging potential. Before we go into our findings it is worth providing some information about the variety:
What we know
According to Wine Grapes, Aidani is thought to have originated in the city of Adana, in SE Turkey, but there is no genetic evidence to confirm this hypothesis. Plantings on the island are given in approximation. If we consider that the total vineyard area of Santorini is around 1100 ha, Paris Sigalas, of Domaine Sigalas, takes a guess and says that about 5% is Aidani, whereas Matthew Argyros, of Argyros Estate, reckons it covers about 2%. Whichever the actual number, this means that we are talking about a maximum of 22 to 55 ha, which is not really that much, and makes Aidani a rarity.
“We already knew that Aidani had distinctive aromas, because it was used in the Vinsanto blend, but we started vinifying the variety on its own in 2013,” says Paris Sigalas. Mathew Argyros declares his love for the variety; this is proven by the fact that the Argyros Winery was the first to produce it as a single varietal, in 2003.
Aromatically speaking Aidani is in the antipodes of Assyrtiko. It is expressed with higher intensity and more aromas. Think of jasmine, peach, kumquat and tropical fruits like lychees and melon. This is usually combined with a rather buttery texture, with much softer acid. Some producers claim it can be salty in some vintages. For example, Lefteris Anagnostou, winemaker of the Karamolegos winery, talks about saltiness in the 2017 bottling.
In the vineyard, Aidani is regarded as rather productive. It has bigger bunches and can yield up to 35 hl/ha, compared to the 15 hl/ha of Assyrtiko. Its bunches according to Yiannis Papaeconomou, winemaker of Vassaltis, can exceed even 2 kilograms in weight. It is a thick skinned variety which means that the tannins need refinement and in order to achieve this there are two options, according to Sigalas. One either aims for higher maturity on the vine or ages the wine in oak. It is a demanding variety that needs two harvests, in order for it to preserve its acidity; this statement was confirmed by both Argyros and Anagnostou.
What we would like to explore
The styles, winemaking approaches and the aging potential. Anagnostou considers that it can age for 3-4 years based on his tasting experience, whereas Papaeconomou believes that there is a safe 3 year aging window. My experience would say approximately 4-6 years for good vintages, but let’s wait and see.