When you go on holiday, of course you want to drink the local wine. But what do you do about labels if you cannot read the letters, let alone the words? Take Greece as an example. The general reputation of Greek wine, which ranges from dire to mostly harmless, does not encourage one to make an effort. This reputation, however, is outdated, and indifference to the wines would be a mistake. Greek wine, made from many of 300 indigenous grape varieties, can be so good that it would be a shame not to have a go if you are visiting for the Olympics in August.
In the big cities such as Athens, or in lovely tourist cities such as Nafphion in the Peloponnese or Chania in Crete, the labels or menus will usually include an English translation. Sometimes, however, and particularly in villages which are not on the mass tourist trail, you may be faced with lists in Greek only. For this reason, I offer here some of the more useful Greek terms. The words ??jjimo ?qar› or ?qthq?y v›moy and §joy ?qar› or §Âtj?y v›moy mean red wine and white wine respectively. There are two particularly good regions for red wines, each with its dominant grape. Nemea is the region in the eastern Peloponnese producing dark, spicy wines made from the Agiorghitiko (8cioq›sijo) grape. When the vines are grown on the hillsides, rather than on the valley floor, and when the winemaker takes the time to extract the maximum colour, taste and structure from the grapes, as he or she must do if the wine is to be made to age, the wine can develop a remarkable bouquet of blackcurrant and damson. When made in a lighter style, such as Notios by Gaia, it can be explosively fruity. Arguably the best wine from Nemea is Gaia Estate (?s‹la °a›a) - powerful, concentrated and velvety. The Xinomavro (•imola‡qo) grape, thought by some critics to be one of the most delicious of all Greek grapes, dominates northern Greece, with the region of Naoussa in general the source of the best wines. There are a number of wineries here producing good wine. The local house wines in both Nemea and Naoussa can be really good - a large glass or two with grilled meat or fish will produce a most satisfactory feeling of wellbeing.
White wine made from indigenous grapes can be quite wonderful. Try a Moscofilero (ªorvou›kÂqo), which combines the scent of rose petals with high acidity: the result is a fresh, sometimes grapey, aromatic wine which is very nice as an aperitif and delicious with fish. Wines made in the region of Mantineia in the Peloponnese are particularly good; personal favourites are those made by Antonopoulos and Tselepos. Another white grape, one which some experts believe is the best white grape in Greece, is Assyrtiko (8rr‡qsijo), with a scent of honeysuckle and lavender. This, plus its high natural acidity, makes it very refreshing; made by a top winemaker such as Gerovassilou, it also has a depth that raises it to the level of a wine which can seriously compete with a good riesling - high praise indeed.
Assyrtiko is also used by producers on the island of Santorini to make the sweet wine Vinsanto (analogous to the Italian wine of the same name), for which the grapes are dried for ten days and the wine aged in casks for a number of years. The result is a wine of a deep amber colour, with a scent of old sherry and the taste of dried figs and dates. Another famous, and easily available, red sweet wine is a Mavrodaphne (ªabqod¿umg), also made from semi-dried grapes and cask-aged. This is a speciality of the region of Patras in the northern Peloponnese. Many people scorn sweet wines, but this is a bit narrow-minded: having a mildly chilled glass while sitting in the evening as the sun goes down, or at night under the moon, is highly recommended.
The most famous Greek wine, retsina (qÂsr›ma), is a white wine of a peculiar sort. One may wonder why the Greeks like wine which has had Aleppo pine resin added to it, but for centuries, the Greeks used pine resin to seal the tops of amphoras in which wine was stored and shipped; they also sometimes added it to the wine itself to protect it from the oxygen which would ruin it. The taste for it must be inherited, since most retsinas taste terrible to the non-habitué. There is, however, one retsina which is very good indeed: this is Ritinitis (ƒgsim›sgy) Nobilis, which is made by Gaia. Drunk by itself, it can be challenging, but with strong-flavoured mezedes, it is delicious. Ensure that any retsina you drink comes from an unopened, chilled bottle: no matter how atmospheric it may be, retsina drawn from a cask in a taverna may well be spoiled, especially during the summer.
In general, the quality of many Greek wines is high and improving year by year (you can discover this by trying examples from Oddbins). In Greece itself, you will find that any wines made by the following producers will be of high quality: Antonopoulos, Boutaris, Gaia, Gentilini, Gerovassiliou, Katsaros, Kostas Lazaridis (not to be confused with Nico Lazaradis), Matsa, Mercouri, Papaïoannou, Skouras and Tselepos. This is not an exhaustive list and, in short, there is a wide choice, so there is no excuse for not enjoying Greek wine.
