A sunny expression of the Greek Isles, the yellow-gold assyrtiko grape is scant in the United States. Only two American wineries are known to harvest the fruit, including California’s Perlegos Family Wine Co., which produces the estate-grown Thera Block Assyrtiko, a billowy white with a honeyed perfume. The bottling is a favorite for certified sommelier Jessica Sabeau, the beverage director at the year-old Warren American Whiskey Kitchen in The Collective design center. “It’s the perfect choice for Naples’ warm evenings,” she says.
Within a year of helping build and run the beverage program, Jessica stewarded the restaurant toward a 2024 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, partly thanks to her focus on unsung gems from underrepresented producers, grapes and regions worldwide. One such place is Greece, where grapes have evolved over centuries to thrive in the temperate Mediterranean climate. “I’m fascinated by Greek wine, by its sense of place,” she says.
She’s especially drawn to assyrtiko, which is grown primarily in Santorini and yields wines with a pronounced salty minerality and citrus-like acidity. Jessica likes to introduce the Perlegos assyrtiko to white wine enthusiasts who are beholden to a traditional style. The medium-bodied wine’s minerality and crisp acidity make it approachable and familiar, while its distinct salinity, unusual combination of high acidity and high alcohol, and subtle textural grip take imbibers into new territory. “If I pour it, people inevitably fall in love with it,” she says.
Jessica fell equally hard when she stumbled across Perlegos’ assyrtiko by Jeff and John Perlegos, a pair of brothers immersed in the modern winemaking movement in California’s Lodi AVA (American Viticultural Area). The Central Coast region has long been a powerhouse for grape growing, supplying more than 20 percent of the state’s wine bounty annually and housing some of the oldest vines in the country and around 130 varietals. Traditionally, Lodi grapes have been sold in bulk to mass producers or transformed into overblown Zinfandels. Now, the area’s gaining momentum for its winemaking prowess, with a rising crop of small, experimental producers like Perlegos.
The sons of Greek immigrants, Jeff and John, grew up surrounded by wine. When the family first arrived in California in the 1950s, their father worked in the fields while he overcame the language barrier; within the next decade, he established a grocery store and acquired vineyards in Lodi. “My father spent most of his time in the U.S. before he passed away, growing grapes,” John says. “We’ve been lifelong farmers in California. I’m 50 years old, and I’ve gone through 51 harvests. Neither my brother nor I have ever missed one. We’ve always had a harvest in our lives; we’ve learned to live by it.”
Photography by Dan Cutrona
Courtesy Perlegos Family Wine Co.
Photography by Dan Cutrona
Courtesy Perlegos Family Wine Co.
Perlegos Family Wines took root in 2022. “We wanted to plant something in California representing us and our family,” John says, adding that the local climate—when properly managed—is ripe for recreating Santorini vines.
Like much of the state’s top AVAs, Lodi benefits from a Mediterranean-like climate and rich, well-drained soil suited for harvesting Old World grapes. The region’s relative inland location, next to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and protected by the Sierra Nevada mountains, yields less fog than coastal AVAs, making for consistently clear skies and hot, dry summer days—ideal conditions for the sun-loving, drought-resistant assyrtiko. Drastic temperature shifts with cool nights protect the grape’s lauded acidity, while the Mokelumne and San Joaquin Rivers provide a reliable source of irrigation for superior grapes, year after year.
Assyrtiko entices connoisseurs for its unique ability to achieve full ripeness and express fruit flavors while retaining elevated acidity in Greece’s warm climate. The brothers channel the spirit of the grape’s native Santorini, following the island’s traditions, like using whole-cluster pressing—keeping the stem and grape intact to decrease acidity while providing depth. Jessica says the technique lends ‘green’ or underripe characteristics—a touch of herbaceousness, adding complexity and a refreshing balance to the ripe fruit flavors. “Nothing masks or overtakes what comes naturally,” she says.
Jeff and John first grafted the Cycladic grape onto a small block of previously established vines in 2021. At harvest, grapes are handpicked and whole-cluster pressed, then fermented with native yeast and minimal-added sulfur for weeks to months. To enhance the complexity and texture of the grapes harvested early from young vines, the vintners start aging in neutral barrels (used casks with diminished oak flavorings) before moving to stainless steel tanks. “The barrel fermentation contributes some richness to the palate,” John says.
The result is a stellar juxtaposition—a Californian interpretation of a Greek classic. Those unfamiliar with the wine are often skeptical—Greece doesn’t rank high in wine conversations, and lovers of whites tend to be staunchly devoted to their preferred style. “They don’t know what to expect. Then the crispness hits—the absolute gift from these grapes—and people are blown away,” John says. “It’s not a chardonnay or a sauv blanc—it’s something entirely different.” He often hears people describe the wine as transportive. “They say, ‘Oh, you brought me back to when I was backpacking as a kid through the Greek Islands,’ the way the wine bursts with citrus and stone fruit aromas,” John adds.
The wine’s bright acidity and lemon notes pair beautifully with Warren’s winter dishes, like the fall farro salad with braised beets and roasted butternut squash or the pan-seared Chilean sea bass with julienne zucchini, squash, carrot and wilted rainbow chard in a saffron beurre blanc. Jessica says the boutique wine (100 cases produced in 2022, followed by 150 for the 2023 vintage) also stands firmly on its own, enjoyed on Warren’s atrium terrace or oceanside on a sultry Southwest Florida day. “It’s an all-around sensory journey,” she says.