One evening a short while ago I was overcome by a sudden urge for really dark chocolate. I only like chocolate with a minimum cocoa content of 70%, the higher the better. I also prefer to eat dark chocolate cold and store it in the fridge. A few days before, my mother-in-law had given me [...]

Greeks are often temperamental people. It is nearly impossible to drive through Athens without someone yelling at you or gesturing wildly at you. For me, this is in fact a valuable learning experience for slang words, and it works wonders if I put up a friendly smile and ask the aggressor with my German dialect to [...]

“The Wines of Greece: Santorini and Assyrtiko” is the theme of a comprehensive 15 page report that has just been released by The International Wine Review . They publish bi-monthly reports that are available by subscription only, a six-month online subscription (3 reports) is offered for $ 25.00 and includes access to all previous reports. A [...]

The technological revolution currently taking place on a truly global basis through Web 2.0 is staggering. The wine sector is already embracing it, be it in the United States, in Europe, or in Australia. In Greece, things work differently. Business is done in a much more traditional way. Personal contacts are the key, and face-to-face [...]

Greeks interpret even basic traffic regulations differently than most of us. Somehow the relaxed way of enjoying life does not extend to driving. Even worse, it is replaced with the passionate temperament only Greeks seem to be capable of. Life on the roads is fast and furious.     Where in most countries the normal [...]

Today, more than 700 wineries exist in Greece. Out of all the wineries, three producers, or less than 0.43% of the existing wineries, have a total share of over 50% of the Greek wine consumption in the major export markets. I am well aware that these three wineries are able to produce solid quality in [...]

Liebe Weinfreundin, lieber Weinfreund, viele von Ihnen kennen sicherlich jenes von Optimismus und Gottvertrauen zeugende Lied, das der berühmte Schauspieler und Entertainer Johannes Heesters noch bis vor wenigen Jahren bei jeder sich bietenden Gelegenheit ungefragt zum Vortrage brachte: „Ich möchte hundert Jahre werden! Das wär’ was, das wär’ was, das wär’ etwas für mich!“. Ob [...]

Greeks are enormously generous when inviting others or being invited themselves. It is polite to always bring gifts to friends and considered to be quite normal to bring along a cake and a bottle of wine when being invited to someone else’s home. If you plan on hosting a dinner party, do not ever prepare [...]

When I lived in London in the nineties, I used to indulge myself in many wine themed dinner events. In Athens, food and wine pairing social events are a fairly recent addition to the restaurant scene. Greeks have just started to embrace wines on a more serious level. My favourite wine shop in Athens is [...]

Part of a series of videos to bring 100 different Greek grape varieties to you. Fact File Mavrotragano Area grown: Santorini History: Eighty years ago, Mavrotragano was commonly grown throughout the island. Traditionally, it was used in the production of sweet wines. Over the following seventy years, these plantings were pulled out little by little [...]