Tasting Aged Nykteri

Three wines offer a glimpse of Assyrtiko’s aging trajectory

Nykteri is a traditional wine style on the Greek island of Santorini, which dangles like an apostrophe in the center of the Aegean Sea. “Nykta”—sometimes spelled “nikta”—means “at night,” and traditionally the fruit is harvested in the relative cool of the day’s wee hours, then pressed immediately to preserve freshness.

The practice has shifted over time, and now the harvest generally happens during daylight hours, but the wine must be based on native Assyrtiko, at least 75 percent, and aged for at least three months in barrel. It is always fermented to dryness, and the fruit’s inherent ripeness assures elevated alcohol. Still, the saturation and barrel aging gives the wines enough oomph to age.

I recently tasted the following three examples of older Nykteri and found them nutty, honeyed, and substantial, with a tawny hue and burnished flavors that make them a natural for autumnal fare.

2013 Hatzidakis Nykteri Santorini

Hatzidakis’ Nykteri is a varietal wine, 100 percent Assyrtiko, and 15% alcohol by volume. At four years from harvest, the wine has acquired the amber hue of bottle age and aromatic suggestions of almond and hazelnuts, but the fruit is still forward—if mature—offering guava, mango, and something like roasted peaches. Texturally this is a substantial wine, and the alcohol suggests a measured pace.

It’s a natural with roasted poultry. Or pair it with a cheese course groaning with rich, aged, and complicated offerings: washed rind, old Gouda, Comté or other cooked, pressed cow’s milk delicacies.

15% abv | current vintage about $45 (sample) | Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons

2012 Koutsoyannopoulos Nikteri Santorini

Another Nykteri wine (here spelled with an i), a style traditionally harvested during the cool of the night, then vinified immediately to preserve freshness. Although only a year older than the Hatzidakis Nykteri, it feels far more autumnal, with a golden robe and a sherried quality that suggests tea-sweet yellow leaves. There is the redolence of roasted almond, marzipan, and honeyed peaches, and the body is substantial (in keeping with this style), with baked pome fruits and a nutty finish.

Pair it with a cheese course scattered with nuts and dried figs, or even a rich or creamy dessert that’s slightly un-sweet, like cannoli or olive oil cake. Or try it with roasted fowl, game meats, rabbit, or rich shellfish. You need some weight.

13.8% abv | This vintage about $30; the 2015 is about $36 (sample) Imported by Frederick Wildman & Sons

2008 Canava Roussos Nykteri Santorini

This Nykteri style wine is 100 percent Assyrtiko and, at eight years old, seems to have overshot its apex. The wine’s original substance and cellaring allowed it to develop depth and intricacy, but the fruit has fallen away, leaving vestiges of wood and oxidation: nuts, cedar, sherry, cherrystone. There is a slight intimation of yellow apple skin, quince paste, and guava, but mostly this wine is about senescence—both from the original barrel, which sometimes steps forward with age, and from the oxidation that happens languidly in a tiny glass aging vessel.

Sip it slowly, treating it as you might a sherry, or serve it with very savory fare.

13.5% abv | (sample) Possibly no longer available; formerly imported by Vingreco Wines

All wines were samples for review.