There is a growing segment of oenologists that, bordering on the experimental, wants to craft wines that go beyond the obvious styles and achieve cult-like status. Greeks had a headstart of a few centuries, if not millennia, to develop these rule-breaking methods. While aging wine in amphorae has recently attracted a lot of attention, the ancient Greeks even had laws regulating the shape and size of amphorae with specific appellations. Another method of aging, tested by Gaia in Santorini, is submerging bottles in the sea. Deeply colored orange wines, created from white grapes that have been vinified like a red wine, have also been documented in antiquity. These intriguing wines, sweet in flavor but with a dry, tannic palate, are an excellent accompaniment for many Greek dishes.
© Akis Orfanidis
Greece has been blessed with a number of indigenous grape varieties. According to some estimates, it is home to more than 300 varietals, though only about 40 are currently commercially important and available. However, more and more producers are returning to old, forgotten blocks to identify near-extinct varieties. Even 10 years ago, grapes like Vidiano and Spinas Muscat from Crete, Limniona from Thessaly or Lagorthi from the Peloponnese, were nowhere to be found on a wine label; today all of these produce sensational wines. And there is more to come.
© VisualHellas.gr
Tourists are usually attracted to Greece’s simple local tavernas, where wine tends to be served by the jug. Most would assume that this wine is poured from a barrel at the back of the restaurant and made from the owner’s own vineyards, but this is no longer true. The majority come from bag-in-box packages, produced by good, modern wineries. Due to the financial difficulties many Greeks have faced over the last six years, quite a few people stopped drinking bottled wine, resulting in falling sales. So, a number of wineries, with bag-in-box becoming more popular, had no choice but to package good quality wine in such a manner. Jug wine in Greece can be excellent – but bear in mind that the people serving at the taverna should be able to name the producer and the area the wine comes from.
© Shutterstock
High-priced wines are crucial in helping producers achieve a top-quality image. While the Greek market has been thirsty for lower-priced wines, export markets demand premium product. Santorini producers are leading that trend, making some outstanding wines in very limited volumes, which sold out in weeks in countries like the US or Canada and, rather surprisingly, in Greece as well. A comforting point is that these labels are not a one-off success, but in growing demand with each vintage. This is proof that Greek wine is finally entering the upper echelons of the fine wine sector.
© Shutterstock
These styles of wine are much in vogue all around the world. Such is the case in Greece, albeit with a couple of marked differences. The great, hazard-free climate in Greece not only makes organic and biodynamic cultivation viable but, in some cases, the only logical option. Moreover, Greeks have a long wine-producing history that stretches back to a time when chemicals or winemaking additives were not available. What other wine producers must struggle to attain, Greeks have naturally. The results are fantastic.
© Sofia Papastrati
Konstantinos Lazarakis | March 17th, 2016
Adapting all the time and mirroring the changes around it, wine is, metaphorically speaking, a living organism. The same holds true for wine production in general. Actually, these changes illustrate the health, vibrancy and quality of the sector – and Greek wine is bound to captivate even more consumers with its ever-changing fashions. The trends discussed here can only be considered the tip of the iceberg.
There is a growing segment of oenologists that, bordering on the experimental, wants to craft wines that go beyond the obvious styles and achieve cult-like status. Greeks had a headstart of a few centuries, if not millennia, to develop these rule-breaking methods. While aging wine in amphorae has recently attracted a lot of attention, the ancient Greeks even had laws regulating the shape and size of amphorae with specific appellations. Another method of aging, tested by Gaia in Santorini, is submerging bottles in the sea. Deeply colored orange wines, created from white grapes that have been vinified like a red wine, have also been documented in antiquity. These intriguing wines, sweet in flavor but with a dry, tannic palate, are an excellent accompaniment for many Greek dishes.
© Akis Orfanidis
Greece has been blessed with a number of indigenous grape varieties. According to some estimates, it is home to more than 300 varietals, though only about 40 are currently commercially important and available. However, more and more producers are returning to old, forgotten blocks to identify near-extinct varieties. Even 10 years ago, grapes like Vidiano and Spinas Muscat from Crete, Limniona from Thessaly or Lagorthi from the Peloponnese, were nowhere to be found on a wine label; today all of these produce sensational wines. And there is more to come.
© VisualHellas.gr
Tourists are usually attracted to Greece’s simple local tavernas, where wine tends to be served by the jug. Most would assume that this wine is poured from a barrel at the back of the restaurant and made from the owner’s own vineyards, but this is no longer true. The majority come from bag-in-box packages, produced by good, modern wineries. Due to the financial difficulties many Greeks have faced over the last six years, quite a few people stopped drinking bottled wine, resulting in falling sales. So, a number of wineries, with bag-in-box becoming more popular, had no choice but to package good quality wine in such a manner. Jug wine in Greece can be excellent – but bear in mind that the people serving at the taverna should be able to name the producer and the area the wine comes from.
© Shutterstock
High-priced wines are crucial in helping producers achieve a top-quality image. While the Greek market has been thirsty for lower-priced wines, export markets demand premium product. Santorini producers are leading that trend, making some outstanding wines in very limited volumes, which sold out in weeks in countries like the US or Canada and, rather surprisingly, in Greece as well. A comforting point is that these labels are not a one-off success, but in growing demand with each vintage. This is proof that Greek wine is finally entering the upper echelons of the fine wine sector.
© Shutterstock
These styles of wine are much in vogue all around the world. Such is the case in Greece, albeit with a couple of marked differences. The great, hazard-free climate in Greece not only makes organic and biodynamic cultivation viable but, in some cases, the only logical option. Moreover, Greeks have a long wine-producing history that stretches back to a time when chemicals or winemaking additives were not available. What other wine producers must struggle to attain, Greeks have naturally. The results are fantastic.
© Sofia Papastrati
Visiting Arvanitidis Estate on the outskirts of Thessaloniki
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