Vintage report 2021 at Zeginis Winery

Prefecture: Attica

Region: Ramnous, Marathon

Zeginis Winery private vineyard

The 2020 - 2021 wine year, which affected the 2021 harvest, presented weather extremes throughout Greece and grape production (quantitatively reduced) was affected by two major heat waves: initially in June and then towards the end of July and early August.

The first heatwave was less traumatic, leaving vines largely unaffected. The vast majority of them used the available water resources needed to complete germination without any particular problems.

The second heatwave, however, caused problems, depending of course on the variety, early or late, especially on the phase in which the plants were in. Early varieties, e.g. malagouzia and chardonnay, were the most affected, as the heatwave coincided with the last stages of ripening and harvesting of the fruit. Late varieties, however, such as, for example, savvatiano, were much less affected, particularly in those cases where there were water reserves in the soil or, even better, the possibility of irrigation. Water reserves and their availability were a major comparative advantage in this wine year throughout Greece.

A year of contrasts, with a particularly cold spring for the most part and an extremely hot summer.

In conclusion, for this year's harvest we could say that the saying "no harm is equal to good" applies, since in several cases an undesirable weather phenomenon turned out to be a good thing. For example, the low spring temperatures may have delayed the start of the grapevine's vegetative period, but prevented frosts; the time lost during the initial frosting was recovered due to high temperatures; the reduction in production due to low water reserves and high temperatures created the green harvest effect.

In eastern Attica, the drought and high temperatures brought the start of the harvest of Savvatianos on 2 September, with the grape harvest progressing smoothly and the raw material having normal sugars, quality tannins and slightly accentuated (due to the shock of the heatwave) acidity.

Savatiano, as every year, was the last variety to be harvested and the one that gave the best results in comparison. Total production was down at least 13% compared to 2020 and 20% compared to the average of the last 20 years. The health condition of the grapes was very good and the lower yields per hectare led to the production of wines with a strong aroma and a rich and well-structured body.

Discover the Savvatiano Zeginis 2021

Agiorgitiko also delivers intense fruit, while it is slightly more concentrated than other vintages, revealing its maximum potential.

In conclusion, we can expect wines with a particularly complex aromatic bouquet and remarkable acidity, elements that, combined with the quality tannins, make them particularly friendly to the table while at the same time giving them long-lasting potential.

---

Source : Greek Wine Federation (http://greekwinefederation.gr/)