Everyone now knows the sun dried wine of Samos. What they may not know is that Moschato of Samos is presumed to be the same as the French Muscat de Frontignan, as during the phylloxera period the French seem to have grafted Samian Moschato! The history of Samos Moschato, of course, dates back to the 16th century, when the Samians returned back to their deserted by the conquerors island. In their luggage they had different varieties, most notably the fine muscat originating in Asia Minor.
A little later, in the 19th century, the Nopera family migrated from Malta to Samos and after some years made a sweet wine of muscat that became known all over the world. In particular, they managed to export it to the world-renowned Noilly Prat France. Nowadays a worthy successor of the winemaking tradition of the family is Nikolaos Mytilineos who, with the help of Yiannis Costakis, have developed a 40-acre biodynamic vineyard that stretches over 3 different regions representing different altitudes and microclimates.
The Nopera Vintage 2014 is a sweet wine from the 3 vineyards. The grapes are harvested by hand and then left in the caress of the sun that dehydrates the grape to concentrate all its perfumes. The nectar is left to age for 19 months in French oak barrels to highlight the particular aromas and character of the grape and terroir.
The result? A sweet wine that sets the bar too high for the dessert wines from Moschato!
