With a little help from this year’s Olympic games in Athens, a much needed
spotlight will shine on Greece’s mysterious yet remarkable wines
By Lisa Shara Hall, Wine Business Monthly
September 2004
Greek wines may soon enjoy a renaissance
of publicity and availability. The
recent Olympics coupled with
emerging wine quality will hopefully
help give these remarkable wines some
much-needed exposure and promotion.
With unknown varieties and
regions, Greek wines have been a mystery
to many. Retsina is not at all representative
of the exciting wines now
being produced in Greece.
Greek wines are virtually unknown
in the US. Unfortunately, they tend to
appear only on the menus of Greek
restaurants, but they have strong
adaptability to a world of cuisines. Greek wine varieties and regions are
totally unfamiliar to most wine
drinkers, and knowing how to pronounce
the difficult names can be a
major challenge as well.
Indigenous grapes are outstanding in
Greece. The flavors are different but
delicious and a major surprise once
you discover them. These unknown but
tasty varieties are really what Greek
wines are all about.
While traditional varieties such as
Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and
Chardonnay are also planted and often
blended with indigenous varieties such
as Assyrtiko, that is the exception, not,
thankfully, the standard. What follows
is a guide to Greek grapes and how to
pronounce them.
Assyrtiko (a SEER tee ko) is a fine
multi-purpose variety, maintaining its
acidity as it ripens. Similar in character
to Riesling, Assyrtiko can be vinified in
a range of styles as well. This mostly
island-based grape is classic in sweet
Vinsanto from Santorini and fruity dry
wines from Macedonia and Attica (the
region surrounding Athens). Santorini
producer Sigalas Wines sets the standard
for this variety, producing classic
unoaked wines as well as oaked versions,
and Vinsantos, of course. Gaia
Estate in the Peloppenese region also
produces a delicious Assyrtico from
Santorini. Biblia Chora, in the
northern Macedonia region near
Thessalonkia, blends Santorini
Assyrtiko with Sauvignon Blanc to
create a minerally, well-balanced wine.
Domaine Evharis grows Assyrtiko on
an estate near the Gerania Mountains
between Athens and Corinth, to good
results as well, which it blends with
Chardonnay in one cuveé and bottles it
alone in another.
Athiri (ah THEE ree) is a lower acid
variety and one of the most ancient.
Originally from Santorini, it is now
planted in Macedonia, Attica and
Rhodes. Athiri grapes have a thin skin
and give sweet, fruity juice. It produces
wines that are slightly aromatic, having
medium alcoholic content. Athiri is a
common sight on Rhodes where producer
Emery only makes Athiri whites,
and they claim a fine mineral-laden
and floral character.
Lagorthi (la GOR thee): Since its
revival, this variety is cultivated mainly
on high slopes (850 meters) by the
Oenoforos Winery in the Peloponnese.
The grape produces a very malic and
fruity wine, and Oenoforos also gives it
some lees contact and micro-oxygenation
to broaden the palate.
Malagousia (mah lah gou ZYA):
The Domaine Gerovassiliou winery
was the first to begin experimenting
with the nearly extinct grape, now
found mainly in Macedonia. It is an
especially aromatic grape leading to
elegant full-bodied wines, with
medium-plus acidity and exciting perfumed
aromas of exotic fruits, citrus
(especially lime) and mint.
Moschofilero (mos ko FEE le ro) is
a distinct aromatic and floral variety
from the AOC region of Mantinia, in
the Peloponnese. The grapes sport a
gray cast, and its wines offer a crisp and
floral character. The Domaine
Spiropoulos winery produces a particularly
fine, slightly malic version from
organically cultivated vines that is very
floral, with a bit of a phenolic character
due to skin contact. Gaia Estate also
blends this successfully with Roditis.
Robola (ro BO la) is mostly grown
in the mountainous vineyards of
Cephalonia and claims a smoky mineral
character. Cephalonian producer
Gentilini’s lovely Robola offers a broad
chalky concentration.
Roditis (ro DEE tees) is very popular
in Attica,Macedonia, Thessaly and
the Peloponnese, where it is cultivated
for the production of light AOC Patra
wines. As the name implies, Roditis is
pale pink color and produces the best
results when cultivated with low yields
on mountainous slopes. Roditis can
produce elegant, light white wines with
citrus flavors. Domaine Skouras in the
Peloponnese, the ubiquitous Boutari
and many others make both pale and
rosé wines from this popular variety.
Savatiano (sa va tya NO) is the predominant
grape in the region of Attica
where it displays excellent heat resistance
and shows a distinct floral and
fruity aroma. The grape is low in acid,
often giving the wines a flabby character
lacking in nerve. Domaine G.
Kokotos makes a pleasant version.
Savatiano can be made into a rosé as
well. It is also the base grape for
Retsina, which has the additional flavors
of resin or pine; you either love it
or hate it.
Greek reds show distinctly different flavors
from the "noble" reds we westerners
are used to drinking.
Agiorghitiko (ah yor YEE ti ko):
Meaning "St. George’s," this variety is
grown mainly in the AOC Nemea in
the Peloponnese, producing a soft,
sometimes fruity red in many styles.
There are a number of quality leaders
for this variety, including Domaine
Gerovassiliou, Papantonis Winery,
Gai’a Estate and Domaine Skouras, with
his Megas Oenos bottling in particular.
Domaine Spiropoulos blends the
variety with Cabernet Sauvignon and
Merlot to produce a spicy, firm wine.
Xinomavro (tzee NO ma vro):
Meaning "acid black," this is the predominant
grape variety in the
Macedonia area, the northern grape
growing part of Greece encompassing a
number of separate regions. It shows
superb aging potential with rich, tannic
character. Xinomavro is often compared
to Nebbiolo with its great
capacity for aging. Top producers of
this grape include Ktima Kir Yianni, the
newish (1997) winery of former
Boutari partner Yianni Boutari and his
talented sons (Boutari first planted this
variety in 1960), the biodynamic Alpha
Estate (which is also doing wonders
blending Xinomavro with Merlot and
Syrah), and Ktima Pavlidis who also
blends in other varieties. The older,
somewhat commercial firm of Boutari
also makes excellent Xinomavro, both
clearly varietal and a Merlot-blended
cuveé. Katogi-Strofilia produces a
lovely blend of Agiorghitiko and
Xinomavro, too. And Kir Yianni and
Oenoforos together producer a terrific
blend of Xinomavro and Cabernet
Sauvignon called "Janos."
Mandelaria (mahn dee la RYA) is
also known as "Amorgiano." It is
mainly cultivated on the islands of
Rhodes and Crete. Wine from this
grape is often very tannic and frequently
blended with other grapes to
soften the mouth feel. Sigalas produces
a tasty and interesting dessert wine
called "Mezzo" by semi-drying the
grapes prior to fermentation.
Mavrodaphne (ma vro THAF nee):
"Black laurel" is found in the
Peloponnese as well as the Ionian
Islands. It is blended with the
Korinthiaki grape to produce a fortified
dessert wine known as "Mavrodaphne.
"Mercouri Estate produces a sweet
Mavrodaphe, as well as a blend of
estate-grown Refosco (an Italian
variety) and Mavrodaphne. The
Refosco gives the wine its color and
body while the Mavrodaphne contributes
the complexity of aroma.
Amazingly, there are 300 different varieties
under cultivation in Greece. They
aren’t all of Greek origin, however. As
mentioned earlier, Greece has a fair
amount of acreage under cultivation
with noble varieties.
Among the single white varieties,
Riesling, Chardonnay and Sauvignon
Blanc stand out. Oenoforos does particularly
well with Riesling, producing
a minerally, round wine with a good
backbone of acidity. Its barrel-fermented
Chardonnay also shows beautifully.
Alpha Estate in the north makes a
concentrated, fresh Sauvignon Blanc
laced with a mineral thread throughout
the wine. As mentioned above, Biblia
Chora’s blends of Sauvignon Blanc and
Assyrtico are particularly successful, as
is its Chardonnay. And Skouras makes
a Viognier that sports strong acidity
and good varietal character.
In reds, there seems to be a lot of
promise for blending the noble varieties
with the indigenous ones as well
as for stand-alone varietals. Domaine
Tselopos in the Peloponnese makes a
very fine Merlot, which was a
prizewinner at a spring competition in
Philadelphia; a modern, rich Cabernet
Sauvignon and a fruity, dense blend of
the two. Mercouri Estate produces a
delicious blend of the obscure
Avgoustiatis (meaning "August-ripening")
grape with Mourvèdre; the
resulting wine speaks more of the
Rhone than anywhere else. Domaine
Porto Carras makes a number of fine
Cabernet blends.
Syrah seems to be the new darling in
Greece just as it is in the United States.
Such diversely located producers as
Oenoforos in the Peloponnese,
Gentilini in Cephalonia, Alpha Estate
and Gerovassiliou in the north, and
Porto Carras (based in Athens), have
been seduced by Syrah, all with very
good results.
Greek wines deserve
more exposure because
they offer both high
quality as well as reasonable
pricing. Exciting
different varieties mean
that Greece is more
than "business as
usual." More
and more of the wines are available in
the United States, and more of them
deserve to be. With luck, the Olympic
spotlight will make people more aware
of what this ancient historic nation can
do with wine. And who knows, maybe
many of these unusual varieties could
grow very well here in the United
States.
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