The German wine market is fragmented – there is no single wine centre city that carries a similar influence like London or New York, who are setting trends in their respective countries. To be able to win in Germany, you must win nationwide.

Something is amiss: The influential players from the German wine industry are simply unaware of the evolution of Greek wines in the new millenium. The knowledge base from distributors, supermarkets, and large wine merchants is outdated and in many cases a decade old. I do not blame them; it was the job of the Greek wine industry to ensure that they tell their own story. This did not happen. Those Greek wines that do make it into the country are sadly the same that did so a decade ago: Mainly mass-produced, cheap and utterly unconvincing samples that do not deserve to represent Greece.

Greek wineries must break the Catch 22 – in the past, marketing initiatives were funded by the wineries according to the amount of volume that was being exported to Germany. This meant of course that those wineries who already had a market share are the ones that contributed most funds for the campaigns – and had the most say in the execution. This put the focus right back to those products that do nothing for the reputation.

Meanwhile, I continue to take things into my own hands and seek one on one engagement. Yesterday morning I filled the trunk of my car with exciting Greek wine samples. I drove 3 hours to meet an influential wine merchant, and had a 90 minute conversation. It was a great exchange of thoughts – the owner found the information I provided compelling. The fact that I presented numerous indigenous grape varieties, coupled with the sheer amount of wineries that are certified organically, and the fair price points brought a huge smile to his face. He admitted that the last time he looked at Greek wines was back in the 90ies. He is now seriously considering listing some next year. The 3 hour drive back was a happy one.

What stood out was the sheer diversity of the wines. This was a very true representation of the Naoussa wineries – no cherry picking of the best offerings took place, this was as raw as it gets. Included were many small growers with vineyard holdings of between 4 and 10 hectares, all the way up to the Coop with its 220 members who cultivate 200 hectares. All styles were represented, from the traditional “rustic” approach to the modern way of extracting more fruit and colour while taming the tannins. There were wines that were immensely powerful, yet others that were marked by pure elegance. In addition, it was fascinating to see how the wines start to evolve after a few years. The difference between the newly released 2008’s and the slightly more mature 06 or 07 vintages was remarkable. In this respect the event was highly educational. After the tasting, the wines got there chance to really show what they were made for – to be paired and enjoyed with food. A four course dinner was served, and the wines were now flowing freely. It was quite fascinating to have such an arsenal of Xinomavro wines at hand.

Michael Madrigale, the rising star Sommelier, captured the essence of Xinomavro perfectly in a short speech he gave just before dinner:

“I love Greek wine, I visited there two years ago. I did not get to go to Naoussa, but visited the Peloponnese and Santorini. But I did get to taste a lot of Xinomavro while I was there.

For me, these wines really have something to say. That is the most important part of wine for me. They have been making wine here (in Naoussa)  since the time of Aristotle and Alexander the Great. Yet no one really knows about them, which is amazing. I feel that all the work has already been done. These are thousand years old vine areas. It’s not like a banker who made a ton of money, buying flatland that used to be a desert, irrigating it and putting in clones to get that $9.99 price point on the shelf.

There are more wise traditions and soul and I feel, as someone who buys wine and creates wine lists, provides wine experiences for guests, it is my duty to highlight wines like these. It is in my best interest that they (the winemakers) keep going and keep making wines, keep doing what they are doing. That they don’t bend over in order to do what the market wants, or to change how the market changes. That is why I feel that these wines are special.

I run Bar Boulud and Boulud Sud and will be putting lots of Xinomavros on those wine lists. Because they fit very well with the food here at Bar Boulud, but they fit even better at Boulud Sud, because it’s all Mediterranean food. I compile a very large list of Greek wines. I even reached out to a couple of growers to ask them if they have older vintages. I really want to have a wine list that highlights these wines that is not a Greek restaurant. That’s where I feel you will get the most exposure – in restaurants that are not just Greek. Like I said, it is my duty and I am happy to do that. Thanks you all the growers for making those wines!”

The list of wines that were shown:

VAENI Naoussa 2006

VAENI Damaskinos 2005

Dalamara Paliokalas 2008 (Kostis Dalamara also had the 2005 and 2002 with him)

Chrisohoou Naoussa 2007

Elinos Naoussa 2007

Foundi Naoussa 2006

Kelesidis Merhali 2006

Diamantakou Naoussa 2006

Kastaniotis Naoussa 2008

Melitzanis Naoussa 2008

Tsantali Naoussa Reserve 2006

Boutari Grand Reserve 2004

Kir Yianni Ramnista 2008

Please also read this related post by my dear friend Viviane Bauquet Farre, a great read!

Drync, HelloVino, iRhone (all mobile), WineLog and Adegga (both web) have already implemented VinPass, they will be followed by 5 additional platforms, including Natalie MacLean and BottleNotes, adding another 500000 wine consumers. There are also hopes that VinPass will be brought to CellarTracker.

To sum it up, the sheer number of potential users alone should be more than enough to catch the attention of any wine region, wine personality or winery. This has of course happened already, the list of current sponsors speaks volumes. They include great folks like Gary Vaynerchuk, Finkus Bripp, Evan Dawson, Joe Roberts and many more.

I am delighted to be listed on VinPass as a sponsor and I really look forward to engaging with the oenophiles about Greek wine. I will be adding rewards to those that earn the “It’s all Greek to me” badge, like free Skype calls and more. I also want to take the opportunity and ask my readership for suggestions: What reward would you like to see, what would add value to you and other users?  Please get in touch with me or leave your comments. And start playing VinPass, I highly recommend the drync mobile app – simply search for a wine, rate, review and save the wine to earn progress to your badge.

Finally, I also call upon the support from the Greek wineries. Get in touch with me if you wish to team up. You can make a real difference. Let’s show the world that we care!

I was invited as a guest speaker at the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO, Greek acronym EOT) last Thursday. This was my very first contact with any official Greek organization since I started promoting Greek wines abroad two years ago. The event was organised by the OpenTourism team, whose goal is to open a dialogue about Greek tourism and all related issues. They essentially bring together businesses and entrepreneurs, who develop new and fresh approaches to promote knowledge in the industry.  The team is actively spreading the word about  the Greek culture,  and is running campaigns like this. Greece needs more young people like this! I was contacted by Themistocles Papadimopoulos, a young student/entrepreneur, with the idea of sharing my thoughts on business and Greece from the view of a foreigner.

The president of the Greek National Tourism Organization, Nikolaos Kanellopoulos, gave me and another fellow speaker the honour of attending the event and introducing us. I was also touched that the Secretary for Economic & Commercial Affairs, Dimitrios Pitsidimos, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the effort to not only be present during the presentation, but also to arrive early, introduce himself and exchange thoughts with me before the event started.

I believe my speech was viewed as “unconventional”, I did not prepare any power point presentation, nor did I have any notes with me. I wanted to speak from the heart, and this I can only achieve by being me – standing up and starting the engagement.

Thanks to the iphone and an app, I uploaded the speech (in English) here; it runs just short of half an hour. I would advise every Greek winery to listen to this, as it is about you. You might want to start at 05:40, the first few minutes are simply an introduction about me. The Q & A part starting at 15:40 is certainly worth exploring. The European magazine cafebabel.com also reported about the event here (Greek) and here (English).

I offer to play my part in uniting the Greek wine industry – this includes growers, trade bodies, and governmental organizations. The feedback I received on Thursday was very positive, and I am thrilled that people were honestly receptive to new and different ideas. Together we can shape a new era and make things happen.

Oh, and I am sorry for calling the German, French and British people being a bit stiff It was not personal.

Agrenda is a weekly Greek agricultural newspaper that is distributed nationwide. An interview with me in regards to the marketing of Greek wines in Germany was published a few days ago. The original interview in Greek can be found here . My answers were actually more elaborate, but were shortened somewhat because of limited space availability. Thanks go to @vintuition who encouraged me to translate and post the interview here.

Let’s expand the distribution channels

In the important German wine market, Greek wine is gradually improving its image and is becoming more appealing to discerning consumers, according to Markus Stolz. To him, as the German creator of the successful Elloinos blog, Greek wine with its numerous native varieties has the advantage of authenticity, and at the same time features great value for money wines in the high quality segment. However, in order for Greek wines to establish a better place in the foreign markets, there are still many barriers to be overcome, the main being the distinct absence of Greek quality wine from the basic distribution channels.  There is also a self-centered culture within the wine industry which often prevents it from cooperating towards a common goal. However the use of technology could do wonders to conquer new markets.

What image does Greek wine have in the German market?

It will take time and effort to change the tarnished image of Greek wine in Germany. In my opinion, the main problem is that Greek wines are not being sold in the German wine shops. Thus, the German consumer knows only wines available from wholesalers and supermarkets. Unfortunately, the wines that are offered there only reinforce the above impression. However, I see signs of change. Recently, the renowned publication Weinwisser asked me for a presentation of Greek wines, and hosted the topic for the first time its 20-year history. Some highly regarded wine merchants in Germany are for the first time interested in including Greek wines in their portfolio. One of the most famous restaurants in the country that holds 3 Michelin stars will offer six Greek wines that I recommended to them from spring 2011.

It is often said that the retail price of Greek wine is high.

This criticism is not unfounded with regards to wines costing less than 5 Euros. This has to do with the fact that many wineries are small family businesses with an annual production of less than 20,000 bottles which cannot be sold at a price tag of 3 Euros. On the other hand, large wineries in this category do not offer sufficient quality in their products. This presents a problem, as the low cost wines could function as a catalyst for sales of higher quality wines. In the mid-range price class of 5 to 10 Euros we see good value for money whilst the price range of 10 to 15 euro is very strong, and offers some excellent wines. In the highest category, Greek wines have an interesting specificity: 90% of the top wines are available at prices up to 25 Euros. I do not know of another country, where this is happening.

How should Greek wines be promoted abroad? What do you think of the marketing strategy developed by the EDOAO?

Most importers of Greek wine abroad are emigrant Greeks, serving mainly Greeks residing in this country. These distribution channels have to be expanded. It is very positive that a marketing strategy has been developed and I hope it will be fruitful, but I am skeptical about its long-term plans. Over the last 2-3 years, the Internet has completely changed conventional business models. In such a dynamic environment, it is dangerous to draw up plans far ahead into the future, based on research that is already 2-3 years old.

What other barriers must be overcome by the Greek wine-makers?

They could use simple but effective means to improve the image of wine. Millions of tourists have their first contact with Greek wine in taverns. Unfortunately the wine offering there is often of dubious quality. So tourists form a negative image, which they pass on to friends after their return. Wine producers could sell  bag-in-box wines of better quality to tavernas, thus helping the image of Greek wine in the medium term. Also, it is my impression that in the Greek economy, the wine industry is dominated by a number of cliques and has therefore become very fragmented.

What Greek varieties stand out?

Greece is blessed with numerous native varieties, which make its wines interesting abroad, as this gives Greek wines the advantage of authenticity. For me Assyrtiko and Xinomavro are the most exciting varieties as they have the potential to produce truly great wines. I also love the grape varieties of Robola, Malagousia and Vertzami.

What reception does your blog «Elloinos» have?

Two years ago, when I decided to become professionally involved with Greek wines, I immediately noticed the lack of interest abroad. Prejudices were prevailing and knowledge about the wines was only superficial, whilst the information available on the Internet was weak. Right from the beginning I made it my goal to achieve a constant level of interest in Greek wines. Elloinos readers include wine critics, journalists, retailers, importers, the gastronomy,  and wine lovers. Most readers are from the USA, Germany, England, Canada and Greece. Of major importance are the social networks like Twitter and Facebook, which have generated almost all my network of contacts abroad.

About 50 people showed up, amongst them a renowned wine merchant, a well-known sommelier, a former wine queen (Weinkoenigin) of Germany, an American wine blogger who currently works at a German winery (great to have finally met you in real life @LindsayDuVin), and many other wine lovers. In my experience, most people still have some reservations when being introduced to Greek wines. Not this time around – the audience eagerly engaged with me from the very first moment. At no point did I feel the need to point out why Greek wines are so exciting. The participants knew that they are and wanted to get a taste of them.

None of the wines shown disappointed, to the contrary, they all lived up to or exceeded the expectations. I had included a total of 17 wines from 6 growers: Pavlidis (Drama), Thimiopoulos (Naoussa), Tetramythos (Peloponnese), Palivou (Peloponnese), Gaia (Santorini) and Manousakis (Crete), making this a solid selection from different growing areas, styles, and varietals. For me, this event marked an important watershed, as it gave a clear indication that Greek wines start to overcome some of the problems they have been facing in the past. It is still early days, but I am more than encouraged by these developments.

On Sunday I was in for a very unusual treat. Walfried Sander, neighbour and close friend of the Wuertz family, is a biodynamic farmer (farming, viniculture, cattle). In his spare time he likes to drive around in an old tank he owns (yes, those that are usually used for combat, although his is of course not armoured). I was invited to come along for a ride. For the first time in my life, I drove along vineyards in such a bizarre way. There is an advantage to this form of movement, as steep slopes were taken in a stride :) I did enjoy this adventure thoroughly. It was a clear day, and the views from the Petersberg were stunning. The Frankfurt skyline and the winegrowing region of the Rheingau were both clearly visible, although they are about 50 kilometres away.

I wish to thank everybody that made this weekend such a memorable experience!

Cruvee is a client of the highly influential Vintank, a digital think tank for the wine industry. My good friend (unfortunately not in real life yet , Chief Strategy Officer Paul Mabray, contacted me immediately to ask if I wanted to involve Greek wineries in this movement. Thanks Paul, I really appreciate this – you are always on the ball! I am delighted to announce that Manousakis Winery – Nostos Wines from Crete has now become the first Greek winery (maybe even the first European one?) to take advantage of this innovative technology that might well become a game changer for wineries. Take a look at the result here. I hope that many more will follow suite. I can’t think of any reason why wineries would not opt to do so. Greek wineries, I am here to help, contact me if you have any questions.

Some additional important info: The YourWineYourWay movement is active in distributing data developed and managed by wineries to a network of 50 partners including mobile applications, wine etailors, wholesale/distributors, social networks, wine portals, and more.

Dirk Wuertz is in all likelihood German’s most innovative winemaker in terms of marketing. He has been a key player of the social media scene since the early days, building up his brand continuously. He is never resting on his laurels, and is always thinking about new concepts. In January this year, he launched the first German live wine Internet show. 

Dirk also works together with creative people from the wine industry. The head of his Norwegian importer ExCellars is one of those. ExCellars is one of the five largest importers in Norway, and they also import the bag in box wine from Wuertz. It is very apparent that they love exploring new concepts, as they invited Dirk for a 3-hour naked photo shoot to Oslo, in order to work on a new design for the bag in box. 

The result was released today in Scandinavia – and has caused huge controversy in Germany. The bag in box is simply called “Mein Wein” – “my wine”. The drawings come from Siri Petterson, one of the best know cartoonists of Scandinavia.

Dirk has already stated that he wants to release this design in the German market, which is much more conservative. I for one believe that this is a solid move to shape up the image of bag in box wines that still are not fully accepted by the German consumers. Then again, I view this with a twinkle in my eye, even if business serious.

On our first day, we witnessed a presentation of a number of Greek wines to Dutch end consumers. This was followed by a 4-course dinner at the Smaak restaurant in Rotterdam. On the next day we visited a modern styled Greek-Mediterranean restaurant before driving to Amsterdam, where a number of private wine lovers made their way to the very cute and exciting Fyra restaurant. The restaurant offered Greek wines to accompany a special menu for all diners, and the owner took great care of introducing their guests to the wines from Greece. I wish that more restaurants would make a similar effort, the diners certainly were very intrigued indeed. 

The highlight of our visit was certainly the last day – we drove to the Restaurant/Hotel Le Défi where the top Sommeliers of the country were present to taste Greek wines. A total of 14 different wines were shown from Argyros, Gerovassiliou, Claudia Papayianni, Alpha Estate, Kir Yiannis, Manousakis and Karelas. After two hours of intense tasting a selection of the mentioned wines then accompanied a stunning menu that was out of this world.
 
First we enjoyed cod served with oyster, avocado and crisp sourdough with Champagne vinaigrette, which matched beautiful with a Malagousia from Gerovassiliou. The zander with veal cheek, pineapple, popcorn (no typo) and parsley coulis strived with the great acidity of the Claudia Papayiannis Assyrtiko-Malagousia-Chardonnay blend. For me, the most successful pairing was the dove with cherry, artichoke and mustard texture with the Manousakis Grenache 2006. Also superb was a foie gras and bacon cake that went perfectly with Alpha Estate Omega Late Harvest, a blend of 85% Gewürtztraminer and 15% Malagousia. The cuisine at Le Défi is extremely sophisticated, and the Greek wines were not only able to cope well, they certainly enhanced the exciting flavours of the dishes.

Apart from Martin, Alexandra and myself, the following guests participated: Michael Daas (Sommelier and Maitre at La Défi), Alexander Renner (former Sommelier of Parkheuvel), Adrian Zarzo Habraken (former Sommelier of De Librije, now Ivy), Job Seuren (Sommelier Solo), Marcel en Maaske von Zommern (Chef and Gastronom at Restaurant Rustaat) and his wife, Maurice van Bussel (Restaurant Critic), Robert Benier (Wine Importer) and a gentleman from the Winelife Magazine. And of course Sophie Post, a childhood friend from Alexandra, who simply is a wonderful person! She went out of her way to make sure that we had a great time – thanks so much Sophie!

The conclusion from the Dutch Sommeliers was that Greece today features Gourmet wines par exccelence. Given that the mentioned Sommeliers work(ed) in restaurants that represent a total of 10 Michelin stars, this certainly can be seen as a true expert opinion. I noticed that these experts are excited to promote Greek wines to their clients – this seems to set them apart from their German counterparts, who also value Greek wines highly, but deemed them to be a “tough sell” in the past. I have stated before that I clearly see a shift in the attitudes towards Greek wines, and I am hopeful that the German market will also benefit from this.

On a much more lighter note, my other favourite impressions were:

Most funny wording: “What is the difference between wine matured in a tin tank versus wooden barrel?”
Most astonishing look-alike: Pizza maker looked like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Most suprising hotel: CitizenM in Amsterdam City – ever seen a single hotel room with toilet, shower and bed? I mean, all in the same room, not en suite? What a fun place this was!

Three sweet wines received the top ratings, Xinomavros scored extremely well. Mark writes, “…my favorites in 2007 were probably the Xinomavros…consumers looking for something different should be snapping them up”.

It is quite interesting to note that only 8 wines were tasted and scored by both Mark Squires and the German wine critics. This means that in the last days, tasting notes with excellent scores for 170 different wines have been released; this is surely a world first! It also shows that the ongoing wine revolution that is taking place in Greece has now resulted in a broad range of excellent and exciting wines.

I emphasized that the German wine critics rarely score as high as their foreign counterparts, now I also have proof for this: 6 out of the 8 wines were scored an average of just over 3 full points lower by the Germans! One wine received the same score, and only one wine scored higher – and I wonder if Mark Squires might have had an off-bottle in this case, as his low rating of the wine in question surprised me.

I am delighted that the current decade ends with such great praise for the wines from Greece. The wine critics certainly have thrown in their support. The time is ripe for the merchants to follow suit.