Quickly! Bring me a beaker of wine so that I may wet my brain and say something clever. Aristophanes

Geography provides dramatic settings in this old country seeped in history from Hesiod to Aristophanes.
Although the sophistication of Greeks of antiquity did not invent wine, they reached unprecedented levels of sophistication and quality winemaking once Egyptians taught them how to grow grapes and make wine.
Greece’s agrarian past is still vibrant and dominates the traditional ways of production and business.
In antiquity, the Mediterranean Sea from east to west was the hubbub of commercial activity, and since Greek traders travelled extensively, they introduces vitiviniculture to Romans, who in turn spread the technology throughout continental Europe and England.
Greeks called southern Italy, land of wine, (Enotria) as “terroir” was most suitable for vitiviniculture.
Greece’s “terroir” is suitable for grape growing. Agriculturally poor and well drained soil, with dry and hot summers blessed with adequate precipitation are perfect. Yields are kept low and grapes are handpicked to ensure consistent quality of the vintage.

Most of the indigenous grape varieties (there are approximately 200) have loose bunches that allow dry air to circulate around berries and prevent mould and other diseases from occurring. Greek grape farmers need very little to no chemical treatment in their vineyards.
According to archaeologists Greece has been producing and consuming wine for millennia. Over centuries, indigenous grapes have adopted to the terroir and yield acceptable, often very high quality fruit. Vintage quality is mostly constant due to even climate patterns.
For red wines, winemakers prefer – agiorgitiko, xinomavro, mandelaria, kotsifali, mavrotragano, vertzami, mavrodaphne, and limnio.
Many modern, European or American trained winemakers also use cabernet sauvignon, syrah, mourvedre, grenache, and tempranillo for varietal wines, or for blending.
For white wines, the following varieties are popular: assyrtiko, athiri, lagorthi, malagousia, savatiano, aidani, debina, muscat, vilana, moshofilero, roditis, and robola. Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and others are also planted for experimental purposes, and occasionally turn up in blends or even as varietal wines.
Retsina, a resinated white wine with a particular aroma, has been revolutionized, and now may be lavender-scented and appealing, at least to some. Old-style retsina could appeal to some, but revolt others. Many wine lovers referred to retsina politely as an “acquired taste”.
Ever since Greece joined the European Union in 1981, significant amounts of research funds helped in the study of indigenous grape varieties and characteristics in an attempt to establish the best “terroir” for different varieties.
Laws have been put into effect to control quality and designations.
Region boundaries were formalized and vineyards classified.

The main grape growing regions of Greece are:
Ionian Islands (Kefalonia)
Peloponnesus (Patras, Nemea)
Macedonia (Naussa, Goumenissa)
Main Aegean Islands (Crete, Lesbos, Samos, Santorini and others)
Central Greece (Thessaly, Attic,and others)
In the last few decades, Greek wine quality improved mostly due to young, ambitious, well-educated and savvy winemakers who understand that only quality can succeed in today’s world markets. The general elevation of living standards in the country also helped a great deal for consumers to seek fine wines and to pay for quality.
The old established wineries of Achaia Claus, Tsantali, Kourtakis and others have invested significant amounts of capital in modern equipment and barrels.
New boutique wineries commissioned architects to come up with spectacular designs to attract visitors and have them sample their wines. Greece is a major tourism destination for thousands of Scandinavians, Dutch, Belgians, and Germans, just to name a few sources.
Greek wines are exported to all major markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, the U.S.A, Scandinavia, and Canada. In all these countries there are thousands of Greek-owned and operated restaurants that actively promote Greek wines and foods.
The following wineries are well respected and produce consistently fine wines.
Canava Argyrou (Santorini), Alpha Estate (Macedonia), Gaia Wines (Pelopponesus), Domaine Gerovassiliou (Epanomi), Ktima Kyr-Yianni (Naossa), Strofilia, Oenoforos, Mercouri, Parparoussis, Mantina Winery, Antonopoulos, Katogi Averoff, Domaine Konstantin Lazaridi, Tselepos Estate, Sigalas, Domaine Matsa, Ktima Voyatzis.

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Tags: Greek, Red Wine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 06:00 and is filed under Food & Wine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.