Wonders of Greece

May 2013: I recently attended  a Greek Wine Master Class, organised by the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board (HEPO).   We tasted 12 wines under the guidance of Konstantinos Lazarakis, Greece's first Master of Wine.  The very enthusiastic and eloquent Konstantinos deftly set the stage for us: the Greeks were the forefathers of winemaking - with a tradition that transcended over 3,000 years!  Then he quickly fast forwarded to the 20th Century, when Greece saw the modern evolution of its wine industry: the emergence of quality-conscious boutique wineries, winemakers studying overseas, investments from overseas and the need to satisfy growing domestic and export market demand for high quality wines made in Greece!  Given the time constraints, we did not have time to go into too much detail on Greek wine legislation, which was largely based on the French system, plus its own interpretation/adaptation.  The current area under vines in Greece is about 113,000 hectares, about the same size as Bordeaux, but producing around 3.8 million hl (roughly 25% less than Bordeaux).  Greek wine production is dominated by white wines, with the reds accounting for about 1/3 of the total production.  About 300 indigenous grape varieties are found in Greece, together with the addition of 30 - 40 international grape varieties, making for a very colourful and diverse palette.  The 4 key grape varieties in terms of quantities are Savatiano, Roditis, the Muscat family and Agiorgitiko (the former 2 being 'culprits' behind the traditional Retsina).   For the 12 wines that we tasted, there were 4 whites, 1 rosé, 6 reds and 1 dessert wine.




The 4 whites



The first white immediately grabbed my attention.  A 2012 Monemvassia from Moraitis Winery from Paros (www.paroswines.gr).  Moraitis is a winery founded in 1910. This PDO Paros wine is made from low-yielding vineyards near the sea and the Monemvassia grapes are harvested around mid August.  A pale straw yellow colour, with aromatic notes of honey, herbal, hay, white peach and sultana.  The palate showed rounded mouthfeel, rich texture, good complexity, all the time balanced by vibrant acidity. Refreshing and aromatic, with a nice texture.  Like Malvasia, but not related.  The grape variety typically gives high alcohol and low acidity...but this one at 12.5% abv and showing good acidity. Perfect match with seafood!

The next grape variety we tried was Malagousia, a grape variety near extinction until saved by Vangelis Gerovassiliou, who started a project of reviving Malagousia at Domaine Porto Carras in Sithonia (www.portocarras.com) which has vineyards arranged in an amphitheatre-like formation, on the western slopes of Mount Meliton. This domaine is the largest organic vineyard in Greece.  According to Konstantinos, first vintage was 1993. Gerovassiliou then started his own winery in Epanomi  (www.gerovassiliou.gr) does a version of Malagousia which involves whole cluster fermentation and partial fermentation in old barrels and ageing on lees for a few months.  I very much liked the complexity, freshness and long finish here.  Nutty, toasty and spicy overtones, together with the pear, floral, herbal and naturally grapey notes.  There is ageing potential too, 8 - 10+ years.  The inherent tendency to develop high level of alcohol and low acidity was totally under control. We tasted a 2012 vintage of this PGI Epanomi wine.  We must have been given the ex-cellars price at the tasting....I looked up Wine Searcher and it seems that it retails around EUR 12 in Greece.  Still a very good price for such a high quality wine.
 
We did not get to taste an Assyrtiko from Santorini to my initial disappointment but the 2011 version from the Idisma Drios range (means "sweetly oaked") from Wine Art Estate in Drama (www.wineart.gr) proved to be equally interesting, perhaps without the exhilarating freshness and stylish character that I would expect from Santorini.  The wine had been fermented and aged in French barrels (40% new barrels) for 6 months. The colour was bright golden yellow.  Nutty, stony and lanolin notes on the nose.  Creamy texture, full-bodied, with the richness of this grape variety balanced by firm acidity.   This is typically a high alcohol, high acidity grape variety.  Here the winemaker managed to get it down to 13.5% - not a bad effort at all!  Wine Art Estate was the creation of an architect and a civil engineer, both dedicated to marrying Greek and international varieties to the mesoclimate of Drama.

From left to right: Cabernet blended with Limnio and Xinomavro; 2 versions of Agiorgitiko; and lastly the rosé

The next was a 2012 rosé from Domaine Skouras Cuvée Prestige. 80% Agiorgitiko and 20% Moschofilero.   Even with just 20%, the characteristics of Moschofilero somehow dominated the nose, with notes of Turkish delight, bubblegum with rose petals.  More candied fruit on the palate, with a medium body with some tannin and medium acidity.  Moschofilero typically gives aromatic wines with low alcohol, light body and high acidity.  Agiorgitiko has to be a survivor, though heavily virus infected, it still manages to be amongst the top 4 grape varieties planted in Greece.  With soft and ripe berry fruit, velvety tannin and balancing acidity, it has proven to be a crowd pleaser.

I liked its expression better in the 2007 Semeli Nemea Reserve PDO (www.semeliwines.gr)!  For a Reserve wine, this has spent at least 18 months in oak, and at least 18 months in bottle. Nice complexity of red berry, violet, liquorice and some leather notes.  Velvety texture, with medium+ tannin and medium acidity.  This can continue to evolve for at least 8 - 10+ years.  A very elegant expression.  14% abv. By comparison, the 2008 Ktima Biblia Chora Areti PGI Pangeon seemed to have a more New World take on its style.  Quite meaty, bigger in structure and a more powerful and concentrated expression.

9, 10 - Xinomavro; 11 - Katsaros; 12 - the Liatiko sticky!

Xinomavro was the next grape variety we were introduced to.  This time we were shown 3 versions: one version in an international blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2 versions from Naoussa.  The first Naoussa version was a very good expression of Xinomavro, from Thymiopoulos Vineyards (Label GHI KAI URANOS - meaning Earth and Sky), made with indigenous yeast, biodynamically (www.oinologos.gr).  Xinomavro is a grape variety that is naturally tricky to grow, requiring very low yields to show its brilliant expression and astonishing complexity. From this wine, we saw was a certain resemblance to Nebbiolo in terms of structure with its highish tannin and acidity, and a certain likeness to Sangiovese in its aromas - sour cherry, earthy, dusty, herbaceous, sun-dried tomato with some spicy notes.  I liked the bright fruit shown here, with great freshness, giving the wine a very nice lift.   Not bad for the alcohol too at 14% abv.  Second version (2006 Foundi Estate PDO Naoussa) was more evolved, showing more of a garnet hue, with a more evolved/tertiary nose of coffee, caramel and earthy notes, almost pungent.  Bad bottle?

The last red wine was a PGI wine made 100% with Cabernet Sauvignon.  2005 Domaine Katsaros from Krania (a small family-owned winery established in 1985 on the eastern slope of Mount Olympus).  Deep ruby.  Intense aromatic bouquet of cassis, blackcurrant, layered with cedar, stoney and meaty nuances.  I very much liked the velvety texture of tannin, well lifted by vibrant acidity, leading to a long finish.  I thought there's more than a hint of Pauillac here!  Very good effort. 

To finish, we tasted a 2005 vintage sweet wine made with Liatiko grapes from Idaia Winery in Dafnes, Crete (www.idaiaiwine.gr).  The Idaia Winery is based in Venerato in Crete, with vineyards at around 300 metres in PDO Dafnes.  After harvest, grapes are typically dried on roof tops for 10 - 15 days to further concentrate the sugars.  The grape variety tends to be low in acidity and tannin.  Aged in old oak barrels for 4 years before release.   A brown colour.  Oxidised notes of coffee, caramel, walnut, dried fruit, raisins with liquorice.  Full-bodied, with the luscious sweetness balanced by firm acidity.  Liked the finish.  Would be very good with blue cheese or just enjoy with dried fruit and walnuts!  A good price for a sticky at EUR 15.60.

This had been an eye-opening experience for me to taste this set of high quality wines from Greece (and at very reasonable prices - we were given ex-cellar prices for trade probably! I suspect the retail prices would be higher....) and to learn about the interesting array of indigenous grape varieties, most of which quite challenging to pronounce. This has to be great news for those who enjoy their holidays in Greece, that there is a very vibrant wine scene in Greece!  It would be very nice to see more of these wines featured in wine lists in restaurants in HK too!