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Tsiakkas Winery Commandaria 2008 500ml

size
500ml
country
Cyprus
WA
95
Additional vintages
2011 2008
WA
95
Rated 95 by Wine Advocate
The 2008 Commandaria is a Xynisteri with 3% Mavro added in, all aged for four years in well used French oak. It comes in at 137 grams per liter of residual sugar and 13.4% alcohol (this is not fortified). Fresh and sunny, to the point where it is hard to believe it had all that time in wood, this ends with wonderful tension and a delicious medley of plums, apricot and dried mango. Then, it adds well-controlled sugar, too. It maintains its balance easily and simply tastes great. The acidity nicely laces all those flavors into the palate; it is never even close to cloying. This should age well (they normally do), but this is a bit different. The winery has only been making this since 2003 and they lack a track record. Plus, this emphasizes Xynisteri and is not fortified. The winery indicated to me that "the way we produce our Commandaria adds years to its life, because of the low temperature that we keep it at, the regular topping up of the barrels, the low fermentation temperature, the higher acidity of the grape we use (Xynisteri as opposed to the Mavro that the big factories use), the age of the barrels (three years only), the size (300 liters), etc...." The bottom line: it should be fine within the window indicated, but it may do better. Certainly, though, wines like this can also change character dramatically as they age and gently oxidize. So, take your personal taste into account as well. Sourced from 60-year-old vines, there were 3,000 bottles produced.
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Tsiakkas Winery Commandaria 2008 500ml

SKU 768859
Out of Stock
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barrel

Vintage: 2008

2008 saw very high yields across wineries in much of the southern hemisphere, as a result of highly favorable climatic conditions. Although in many areas, these high yields brought with them something of a drop in overall quality, this could not be said for South Australia's wines, which were reportedly excellent. Indeed, the 2008 Shiraz harvest in South Australia is said to be one of the most successful in recent decades, and western Australia's Chardonnays are set to be ones to watch out for. New Zealand's Pinot Noir harvest was also very good, with wineries in Martinborough reportedly very excited about this particular grape and the characteristics it revealed this year. Pinot Noir also grew very well in the United States, and was probably the most successful grape varietal to come out of California in 2008, with Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley delivering fantastic results from this grape. Elsewhere in United States, Washington State and Oregon had highly successful harvests in 2008 despite some early worries about frost. However, it was France who had the best of the weather and growing conditions in 2008, and this year was one of the great vintages for Champagne, the Médoc in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes leading the way. Italy, too, shared many of these ideal conditions, with the wineries in Tuscany claiming that their Chianti Classicos of 2008 will be ones to collect, and Piedmont's Barberesco and Barolo wines will be recognized as amongst the finest of the past decade.