Greek wines

Santorini

Greece has a history of winemaking which goes back at least 5,000 years. Previous to the 21st Century, Greece’s vinous heyday was during the Golden Age of Ancient Greece (around 300-500BCE). The wines produced then would have been quite different to wine as we know it today, flavoured with all sorts of substances such as flowers, herbs, spices, oils and honey and always consumed diluted with water (only barbarians drank straight wine and doing such a thing was believed to be deleterious to your mental health). At this time, Greek wines were considered to be the best around and were consumed throughout the Mediterranean.

After the advent of the Roman Empire however, the Greek wine industry entered a doldrums that would last for over 2 millennia!

Following a rough patch as long as that, it’s not surprising that Greece is taking a while to shake its reputation for cheap, poorly made wine. Especially as many people’s resounding memory of Greek wine is the Retsina served in holiday tavernas during the second half of the twentieth century, where pine resin was often used unsubtly and unsuccessfully to mask the poor quality of the wine itself.

But if you’re yet to discover what the modern Greek wine industry has to offer, you’re in for a treat! 

From the 1980s to the present day, many factors have contributed to the renaissance of Greek wine.

Greece’s accession to the EU has brought in funding for the industry and many quality-focussed, small producers have set up in business, growing their own grapes and bottling their own wine, in contrast to small growers who previously only made wine for their immediate neighbours or sold their grapes to large companies and co-operatives. Many of this new generation of passionate winemakers and oenologists have also studied abroad, learning their craft in places such as Bordeaux and California and bringing their skills and knowledge back to help to modernise the Greek wine industry. 

More recently, the financial crisis of 2008, which was so damaging for the Greek economy, forced winemakers to look to export markets to sell their wines and thus improve quality and make their wines more appealing to the outside world.

But it is what has lain untapped in Greece for so long which is now being explored and exploited to really allow Greek wine to fulfil its potential: namely, a wide range of differing terroirs with great potential for viticulture and a whole host of unique and exciting indigenous grape varieties.

In terms of climate and terroir, those of us who know Greece from sun drenched beach holidays, may mistakenly think that all of Greece’s vineyards must be hot, hot, hot! This isn’t the case and there is actually a very wide range of terroirs for viticulture throughout the country as a whole. Both altitude and proximity to the sea have a cooling effect on many of Greece’s vineyards and in some vintages in parts of Macedonia, grapes can even fail to ripen fully due to lack of sufficient heat.

Estimates put the number of native grape varieties at around 300, though currently only around 60 are planted in any quantity. 

From the two superstar grapes of Assyrtiko and Xinomavro which have established themselves as Greece’s leading white and black varieties for top quality wines; through to grapes like the white, Malagousia which has been brought back from the brink of extinction to be planted more and more widely throughout Greece; to the relatively unknown black grape Moshomavro which is still only really grown in the small Macedonian region of Siatista; to grapes like the Cretan Vidiano which is now making a name for itself on its island home: Greece has so much to offer!

Greece also grows international varieties, particularly those from France, and many producers successfully make single varietal wines from these or blend them with Greek varieties. But whereas the domestic market favoured these international varieties, and it was previously thought that they would appeal more to foreigners than indigenous grapes that they had never heard of and couldn’t pronounce, the realisation now is that Greece’s wealth of native grapes gives their wines a USP and makes them stand out from the crowd.

The two favourite wines at our Greek Wine Tasting were the Santo Wines Santorini Assyrtiko and the Domaine Chatzivaritis, Goumenissa.

The native Assyrtiko grape produces its best expressions on its island home of Santorini. It has the ability to retain good acidity despite the hot, dry conditions and has a great flavour profile which as well as including citrus and floral notes can include a smoky or flinty minerality said to come from the volcanic soils or a salinity from its proximity to the sea. Our example from the island’s large co-operative Santo Wines was really popular amongst our guests for these very reasons.

Goumenissa is one of Macedonia’s lesser-known appellations, sitting on the western slopes of Mount Paikos. To qualify as PDO Goumenissa, the wine must be a blend of Xinomavro and Negoska; the two grape varieties must be co-fermented and the wine aged for a minimum of twelve months in oak. Our Domaine Chatzivaritis Goumenissa is organically farmed and was very popular at our tasting for its rounded character and flavours of blackberry, cherry and spice.

We are so enthused about Greek wines at Brigitte Bordeaux that we are selecting two of them to be our Wines of the Month for March. They will be available to taste in the shop and by the glass in the bar all month. We’ll also be adding a Greek mezze platter to our food menu for the month to complement the wines. So, if you missed our tasting, come down and find out what all the fuss is about!