Samos Blanc 1958

Samos Blanc 1958, Samos Cooperative

Sous le végétal

Here's a gem, a real gem. The Samos Cooperative is one of the oldest wine cooperatives in Greece, supplying all of Europe with sweet Muscat for several centuries. It has preserved this masterpiece, this sweet white made from Muscat Petit Grain harvested and vinified on the island, for sixty-five solid years, which is why it takes on the appearance of a red. This is because it is very old and its color has evolved over time, from amber gold to dark mahogany. Normal. Sumptuously aged and patinated, caressed by time, it is endowed with an uncommon aromatic power. This great cuvée for laying down has all the virtues of a very old sweet wine: vibrant, sweet and saline, superbly fresh, with a beautiful aromatic structure and great length. This meditation wine, which reveals all the authenticity of the island's mineral and volcanic terroir, is a perfect example of what time can do to a great muscat. It was on the occasion of the Sous le Végétal project that this nugget without additives, added sulfites or any other additives was offered to us by the Samos Cooperative. It was this same wine, if you refer to the history of the project, that inspired Jason Ligas with the idea.

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Beneath the vegetation lies the mineral: such is the meaning of this concept of natural cuvées created in Greece, on the island of Samos, by a team of friends gathered around winemakers Jason Ligas and Patrick Bouju. The successful venture marks a renaissance of the thousand-year-old vineyard of this island in the North Aegean Sea, which owes its dense, wooded vegetation to various nicknames received in Antiquity, from Dryoussa ("covered with oaks") to Kyparissia ("covered with cypresses"), by way of Melamphyllos ("Dark-leaved"). This natural wealth covers a unique and varied subsoil: volcanic rocks and notably basalts, limestone, quartz, pink granites, schists, iron cast irons… The idea was born from Jason’s meeting with the Samos Wine Cooperative. Patrick Bouju soon joined the project. The five vintages of Sous le Végétal — Livia, Hüpnos, Octave, Palli & Genesia, Alexandre and Auguste — are produced on around sixty plots of Samos Muscat à petits grains (as well as Avgoustiatis for the red vintage and Asyrtiko for Alexandre), between 400 and 910 meters above sea level. Each plot is vinified separately. For vinification, four types of containers are used: amphorae, concrete eggs, stainless steel vats and 500-liter barrels. Each lieu-dit is vinified in at least two of the four containers and the aging takes place in black bottles sealed with wax. No sulfur is added, no filtration: the winemakers of Samos rediscover wine as it was made in their childhood. This is one of the wonders of natural wine: it allows, through the most innovative projects, to reconnect with forgotten traditions. Sous le Végétal also takes under its wing the A la Natural cuvées signed Patrick Bouju, without forgetting the 1958 vintage Muscat of Samos which inspired the project to the winemakers.