Greek wine?! To drink or not to drink?
That’s (not) the question (at all)!
In case you didn’t notice Greece the last 35-40 years is a wine region on the ascent.
Although the wine tradition dates back 6000 years (yes! Greek wine is only 2000 recent than Georgian, but we will talk about that another time!) they succeeded to attract the interest of wine professionals and wine enthusiasts only a few years ago!
Wondering about the reason? Greece has an outstanding diversity in terms of terroir. A wide range of altitudes, orientations, soils, and plenty of unknown indigenous varieties composes a distinguished character. A small land, where vine thrives all around. In high altitude vineyards, on the slopes of mountains, in valleys, by the sea, in South, North and on the countless islands thrown in the Aegean and Ionian Sea like a thousand stars in the universe. Salinity, the taste of wet rock, tomatoes, olives, and herbs. Powerful wines, mouthwatering, others delicate and elegant. Crashed fruits, violets, orange tree blossoms, nuts, jasmine and the list goes on.. Not only whites and reds but also gastronomic rosés, sparkling and dessert wines. A plethora of tastes and styles! Today Greece proudly boasts educated winegrowers and winemakers. Some have studied and worked around the world to return with heavy know-how baggage. And others stayed to keep the family tradition alive and strived towards modern and sustainable winemaking.
There is much more be said but it’s better to have a sip and open up to this unique Greek-wine galaxy. So, raise up your glasses (like Circe does in the famous painting of John William Waterhouse) and taste a diverse range of wines that will make you forget everything you thought you knew about Greek wine.
Hopefully this Odyssey comes to an end. Or a beginning?