Greek-German wine network

The financial crisis that is currently such a large threat to Greece and to the whole of the European Union has unfortunately seen many ripple effects. These last days and weeks have badly strained the relationship between the people of Greece and Germany. Emotions are running high on both sides, and the friendly relationship that has guided these two countries over many years is severely put to the test.

I have received many calls for action by making a statement on this blog. I will answer those calls today in a different way than many might have expected. As a German living in Greece who promotes Greek wines abroad – with a focus on the German market – I wish to offer help in a constructive way.

One of my key contacts in Germany is without any doubt Dirk Würtz. He is winemaker from Rheinhessen, and a key player in the social networking scene. I write articles about Greek wines on his blog on a regular basis, and we have teamed up for a number of wine events. Dirk did not know Greek wines before we met, but over a period of a few months he caught the bug. I have received his full support, and I am immensely grateful for this.

We have decided to announce a new project today – the launch of a Greek-German wine network. As of today, the wine estates of Dirk Würtz and Manousakis in Crete are officially twinned. Both wineries will offer wines of their partner, present the partner’s wines at trade shows, and help to explore new markets in their respective home countries. In addition they will organise events in both countries and exchange information.

Every wine estate can participate in this new network. We will find the best partner in Germany for any Greek wine estate is interested in joining this network. We are planning to organise a large event in summer to celebrate this new exciting wine networking partnership between our two countries.

I tasted a 100% Vertzami by Antonopoulos – the first thing that struck me was its deep and intense colour, bordering on black. As the last years have seen a lot of research on the association of antioxidants with suppressed rates of degenerative diseases, I investigated the grape further. Vertzami actually contains appreciable amounts of non-coloured phenols. In a study of 20 different grape varieties, Vertzami was the richest variety in total anthocyanin content (TA), followed by Cabernet Sauvignon. The TA found Vertzami was more than 3 times higher than the average*!

Area grown: Western Peloponnese, Western Central Greece, Ionian Islands, noteably on the Island of Lefkada

History: Vertzami is thought to be a distinct member of the Marzemino/Barzemino/Balsamina cultivar family, which had their origin in Italy and was introduced by the Venetians during their dominion of the Ionian Islands.

Grapes: The vines are vigorous and resistant to many diseases. The grapes are deeply coloured with thick skins, high tannin levels and moderate to high acidity. They ripen late in the last September weeks and are best cultivated at a low altitude. Vertzami is often used as a blend to add colour.

Nose/Bouquet: My notes on this particular wine can be found here.

*The following excerpt is reprinted from Food Chemistry 99 (2006) page 789 – Principal phenolic compounds in Greek red wines by S. Kallithraka, E. Tsoutsouras, E. Tzouro, P. Lanaridis, with permission from Elsevier.

Regarding total anthocyanin content (TA) (Table 2), it varied from 19 (No. 5) to 1012, (No. 10)* the average being 308 mg l_1 in agreement with the results obtained by Harvalia and Bena-Tzourou (1982). Vertzami was the richest variety in TA, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Augoustiati. Mandilaria and Agiorgitiko were also rich in TA, in agreement with the results of Kallithraka et al. (2001) and Makris et al. (2002). *In this table, No. 10 was Vertzami.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03088146

Wines produced within the EU are divided into two quality categories, Table Wines and Quality Wines. These categories are translated into different national wine classifications for each member state.

Greek Quality Wines come from viticultural areas that are characterised – according to the EU legislation – as VQPRD. These initials stand for the French term “Vin de Qualité Produit Dans Une Région Déterminée”, which translates as “Wines of Quality Produced in Determined Regions.

In Greece, there are two categories of VQPRD wines:

OPE are the Greek initials for “Wines with Appellation of Controlled Origin”. This designation is dedicated solely to sweet wines. 2 red and 6 white wines that come from 6 different regions are included. A light blue paper strip that is placed above the cork distinguishes the wine bottles.

OPAP are the Greek initials for “Wines with Appellation of Superior Quality”. This designation covers mostly dry wines. The vast majority of the permitted grape varieties are indigenous. 14 red, 1 rosé and 11 white wines from 20 different regions are included. A pink paper strip is used to mark the bottles.

The Greek Table Wines are also broken down into two categories:

TO are the Greek initials for “Regional Wines”. This is the equivalent of the French “Vin de Pays”. Some of the finest wines from international grape varieties are included here, and it is not uncommon to find equal or even better quality compared to some Appellation wines.

EO are the Greek initials for “Table Wines“. The French equivalent are the “Vins de Table”. Although this is the lowest quality category, many winemakers choose this to experiment with varieties. A sub-category to the EO is the OKP (Wines of Appellation by Tradition) that includes only Retsina and Verdea.

Although the above wine legislation is straightforward, the consumer gets frustrated as some wineries use the original Greek abbreviations, others the French or English terms on their labels. I sincerely hope that growers will come to a consensus soon.

Greek VQPRD Wines by regions:

Macedonia: Naoussa, Goumenissa, Amyndeo and Plagies Meliton, all OPAP

Thessaly: Rapsani, Anhialos and Messenikola, all OPAP

Epirus: Zitsa, OPAP

Peloponnese: Nemea, Mantinia, Patra, all OPAP. Muscat of Patras, Muscat of Rio Patras, Mavrodaphne of Patras, all OPE

Aegean Islands: Limnos, Santorini, Paros, Rodos, all OPAP. Muscat of Limnos, Samos, Muscat of Rodos, all OPE

Ionian Islands: Robola of Cephalonia OPAP, Muscat of Cephalonia and Mavrodaphne of Cephalonia, both OPE

Crete: Peza, Archanes, Sifia and Dafnes, all OPAP

Many experts favour Stelvin screwcaps as the choice of closure for wines. Natural corks do result in an unacceptable high percentage of corked wines. The chief source of cork taint is the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA) in the wine, which in many cases is transferred from the cork. Often the wine is completely spoiled; sometimes it leads to less obvious but still noticeable undesirable smells or tastes that do affect the wine. I have wondered for many years why this should be acceptable – is there any other product where such a high rate of spoilage is tolerable?

Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon fame tested synthetic closures for a couple of years in the late nineties and ended up “greatly comprising the quality and longevity of a few wines that were quite important to us – a real pity”. He has since moved to bottle his entire production with screwcaps and is delighted with the results.

Another strong supporter of Stelvin screwcaps is my good friend Dirk Wuertz, a winemaker from Rheinhessen in Germany, who has little doubt that this closure will be the future choice for winemakers to use.

Greek Master of Wine Konstantinos Lazarakis also stated recently that screwcaps “rule” as they keep freshness up and direct development down. One of the few Greek winemakers that do use Stelvin screwcaps is Georgos Skouras. His Viognier and Chardonnay wines age exceptionally well.

However, the vast majority of Greek wines use either natural cork or synthetic closures. I called Petros Markantonatas from the Gentilini winery, as his estate was one of the first ones in Greece to opt for synthetic closures 10 years back. The main reason that synthetic closures are being used is the perceived customer acceptance in Greece. It was relatively easy to move from natural cork to synthetic closure, but the Greek consumer still likes to open a bottle of wine “the traditional way”. Another factor is that the existing bottling lines cater easily for both natural cork and synthetic closures, whereas new equipment needs to be employed for screwcaps. At the same time, the Gentilini winery is actually planning to move towards screwcaps for the export markets. Personally I also observe that nearly all wines are drunk young in Greece, the concept of storing and ageing wines is a relative new one for the Greek consumer.

I would love to hear the opinions of winemakers and consumers alike on the issue of closures via the comment section as I feel that the topic is a very important one that deserves more attention.

Note: Randall Grahm’s observations are loosely quoted from his book “Been Doon So Long“, in addition he has voiced his opinions several times via twitter. When he speaks, I listen!

Update: Please also check out this article by @enobytes

I just marked my calendar with 3 red X’s for the 3 days 19th until 21st February 2010. On each of these days I presented Greek wines to different audiences in Germany. For the first time since I started promoting Greek wines abroad 13 months ago, there was no need for me to initiate interest, nor did I have to “convince” people about the quality of the wines.

On the 19th I had an appointment with one of the larger German wine merchants. Last year I mostly had meetings with wine merchants where I encountered a fair amount of prejudice. This time around, there was actually a real sense of excitement from the merchant to discover something new.

The next day I presented a number of Greek wines to 30+ members of a wine club. The high level of interest and engagement impressed me. The event lasted for more than 4 hours and I was very touched by rounds of applause afterwards.

Finally, on the third day I had the chance to taste Greek wines with a large wine importer who is also a real wine connoisseur. I encountered only open-mindedness and a real focus on the products. All five wines presented showed well, and two left a real mark and received high praise.

These last few days were a real indication that the “old” attitudes towards Greek wines are starting to change. I am truly delighted by these developments, although I am well aware that a lot more effort is needed to keep this positive momentum going.

I continue to be very impressed with the level of engagement from Greek winemakers with wine lovers. Yesterday I attended a Wine and Dine event hosted by the owner of the Gentilini Winery, Petros Markantonatos. He selected Whispers of Wine, a small, personal and modern styled wine restaurant, to show his range of excellent wines. A five-course dinner was specially prepared to accompany the wines, and the respective pairings were daring and successful at the same time.

The restaurant can host about 40 guests and every seat was taken. In fact, the waiting list for this evening was so long that the event will be repeated next week and there are already only a handful of spaces left.

Petros spent all evening engaging again and again with every single person. I spent 5 hours there and he must have been at my table more than 10 times. He did not do any blunt sales talk – rather catering for the needs of the guests. For example, he would ask how the acidity of his Rosé wine went with the vinaigrette of the salad, and then explain some techniques how high acidity in a wine can be reduced. He also paid attention to the different types of guests, offering diverse conversations to newcomers, professionals, friends etc.

I suggest that this level of engagement is exactly what wineries should be offering on twitter. Many more potential customers can be reached and all it takes is time and effort. Just imagine how successfully a brand might be established over time by following exactly the above principles:

• Do not push for sales; instead cater for the needs of your audience.
• Listen to the feedback from your followers and engage again and again.
• Care for the different types of twitter users and their respective interests.
• Ask relevant questions and reply to answers, do this on a daily basis and establish personal relationships.
• In addition, I feel it is important to understand that in order to convert your twitter contacts into your real life at some point in time, you must put your real life into twitter first. Two-way conversations and the sharing of useful information are the key to achieve this.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine had some money to invest, and his thought was to exploit a plot of land that he already owned, build about 8-10 apartments, keep a couple for himself and sell the rest. In a different lifetime, this used to be quite a good way to invest your money in Greece. Today you’d better hang on to every cent you have got, but that’s a different story.

My friend happily built away. The project finished and business bloomed. He sold quite a few apartments and made some money along the way. Only four remained unsold, and the only decision that remained was which ones to keep.

He prepared his annual tax declaration for 2008 and as a citizen of good faith detailed all data relevant to his undertaking. In this country, the attitude towards tax authorities is intensely defensive: The golden rule is to keep and maintain a low profile. You don’t want them taking second and third looks into your affairs, because they are bound to find something devastating that they will be able to turn against the most law-abiding citizen. You keep things simple and clear, in order to avoid having to submit additional information.
 
Being a young generation guy, my friend was very enthusiastic about the fact that tax authorities had recently begun offering the option to citizens to submit their tax forms via the Internet, and that was exactly what he did. He advertised its simplicity to me on a number of occasions, and we praised the government for such forward thinking.

In October last year, a tax official called him and implied that some clarifications were needed. He suggested that my friend would visit him at his office on the following Monday, which was St. Dimitris day. This also happened to be the tax officials name day – a day when presents are given. My friend wondered a bit about this coincident but he followed the “advise”. As soon as he entered the office of the tax official, he saw himself confronted with a very grumpy guy asking lots of questions about the construction. The suspicion was voiced that my friend was not an individual investing his savings, but in reality was operating a construction company that he just didn’t declare as one. Such a company would belong to a completely different tax regime.

Upon my friend’s wonderment why anyone would get the idea that such a complicated scenario could apply, the tax official replied that ONLY people who have something to hide would submit the tax forms via the Internet. There would obviously be a price if he were to not ask further questions. After some toing and froing it was agreed that the tax official would receive 3000 Euros immediately, and another 3000 Euros at the beginning of the next year. My friend felt that this agreement was the only way to get the tax official off his back. At the same time, there was no guarantee that this blackmailing would stop.

Since the first payment a few months ago, Greece has been the center of a massive financial crisis that threatens the whole EU. The government is implementing many new and serious measures to reform the economy and reduce public spending, including a radical reform of the taxation system.

The second payment of 3000 Euros was due last week. Some days ago I received a triumphant phone call of my friend. The government had officially implemented the following measure to counter corruption:

Whoever points out blackmail by tax officials to the authorities will receive five times that amount from the authorities and will receive full tax immunity. My friend has been waiting for a phone call from the tax official who blackmailed him ever since with a smug smile on his face, and is almost sad that his phone remains silent….

Update: Also read this Spiegel article to put things into perspective…

I am very proud that I have received the support from two Greek wineries to adopt the AVIN for their wines. Gentilini from the island of Cephalonia and Manousakis from the island of Crete will start including the AVIN codes on their wine labels. This makes them the first two Greek wineries to use this tool.    

The AVIN was created by adegga and is a unique digital number to identify and track a wine, similar to an ISBN number for books. The AVIN database is an open resource for the world’s wine community and can be used by any wine resource in the world. AVIN is also tracked by google and other services and a number of wine bloggers, including Catavino and myself, already use the AVIN in articles online.

Adegga has also combined the AVIN with the QRCodes technology, which results in a very powerful dynamic application. Simply snatch a photograph of the code with a mobile phone, connect and easily access information about the wine through adegga – this includes ratings, notes and prices. As a consumer, you have quick, easy and reliable access to this information at your fingertips.

I believe that the potential impact of this technology in the medium term is staggering. For a winery, there should be no excuse to not get involved, as using the AVIN is free. For an optional $ 150.00 yearly fee, a producer can add extra features.

Greek wine labels are often criticized for being confusing to consumers. By simply looking through existing sites that share tasting notes, it becomes obvious that the same wine often shows up in multiple entries under different names. The AVIN code will help to ensure that the wine in question is clearly identifiable.

I am very excited about the openness of Greek wineries to adopt new technologies. In a country where the Internet penetration still lacks behind, this move shows that Greek wine estates not only catch up quickly, but also are willing to lead the way. I hope that other wineries also become interested in using this technology, and I am more than happy to consult with them. Hats off to both Gentilini and Manousakis for making the first move.

The cultivation of vines in Greece reaches back to antiquity. Some of the earliest references to wine come from the poetry of Homer. Yet, few people are aware of just how young the current Greek wine industry really is.

• Most of Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century until its declaration of independence in 1821. Under the Ottoman rule alcohol consumption came to a halt and the art of viticulture died out.
• The next decades gave rise to the Corianthiaki, a grape variety that is used to produce raisins. Phylloxera reached the country in 1898, and Greece became heavily involved in the two world wars. Shortly thereafter, the Greek Civil War was fought between 1946 and 1949.
• During the 1960s, wine sales were dominated by bulk wine, and Retsina became the national drink.
• In the 1970s, bottled wine became common. Just a handful of big players dominated the market. This decade also saw a significant number of boutique wineries entering the wine scene.
• During the 1980s many more small businesses were set-up, and a number of different growing areas became the home of these soon to become top growers.
• The 1990s truly established the pioneers of the 70s and 80s. During this last decade of the century, quite a few winemakers who had been employed set-up their own wineries. 
• Finally, the last decade witnessed the birth of many new estates, and the involvement of a new generation of winemakers who are not afraid to push even harder towards the best possible quality.

Given the fact that the “modern” Greek wine industry has only been truly shaped over the last two decades, it can be expected that the best is yet to come.

Gaia Wines is a remarkable wine estate. They have succeeded in becoming one of the true icons in not just one, but two of the finest wine regions in Greece: Nemea in the Peloponnese is home to the Agiorgitiko grape, and the island of Santorini is famous for its Assyrtiko wines.

Last week I had the chance to attend a wine tasting featuring their wines. The event was hosted by the Winebank Pavlidis and took place in the south of Athens, by the sea. Thanks go out to Kostas Katsoulieris, who alerted me to attend the tasting. Kostas is an active commentator on this blog, and I was looking forward to finally meet him in real life.

I arrived a little late, as the traffic was really bad, but made it just in time for the first wine to be poured. The first thing that hit me was that the location was packed. I guess that at least 40 people were attending. The owner of Gaia Wines, Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, presented a superb range of his wines. He talked about every wine in great detail, covering the work in the vineyards and the winery, giving very useful information about the vines, soil structure, harvest time, etc.  This was no marketing talk; instead it was one of the most educational conversations I have ever encountered at a wine tasting. There were many questions from the crowd and a high level of engagement. I  reported last year that the wine culture in Greece is changing. By now it becomes more evident than ever that consumers are eager to educate themselves about fine wines, and I have little doubt that this will have a positive and lasting impact on the Greek wine industry.

Santorini wines tasted, all 100% Assyrtiko:

Thalassitis 2009: A great vintage for Santorini – lots of ripe Citrus aromas, this is a serious wine with a lovely kick from the acidity, bone dry with a salty and very long finish.

Wild Ferment 2008: Only the natural wild yeasts are used for the fermentation. Half the wine is matured for 4 months in 80% new oak barrels. Dense and rich aromas of citrus, minerals and pan-fried butter. Full bodied with great level of acidity, very round, its structure reminds me of a great Montrachet. Very long finish. AVIN3193961754611

Thalassitis 2008: Lots of mineral, lemon and butter aromas, full-bodied, extremely dry, this screams for food, one can nearly taste the salt from the sea, very long.

Nemea wines tasted, apart from Gaia S all 100% Agiorgitiko:

Agiorgitiko 2008: Aged in old barrels, the wine has intense cherry aromas, supple and elegant on the palate with soft tannins.

Gaia S 2007: A blend of 70% Agiorgitiko and 30% Syrah, it shows intense spicy cherry aromas, bundled with an earthy character. Meaty on the palate, elegant with a well integrated tannin structure and a very long finish.

Gaia Estate 2006: Aged for 14 months in 60% new barrels. Nose of ripe black cherries and dark chocolate, powerful palate, concentrated dark fruit, smooth and balanced, finishes long.

Gaia Estate 2004: More spicy than the 2006 vintage, morello cherries, vanilla and roasted almonds, very powerful on the palate, tannins are quite evident, no shortage of acidity, full with a very long finish.

Gaia Estate 2000: Some maturity on rim, aromas of cherry jam, tea and roasted almonds. On the palate it is very feminine and soft in style, yet full of life. The tannins are soft and fully integrated, the finish silky. Perfect to drink now, a great example that well made Agiorgitiko has ageing potential.

Anatolikos 2001: A sweet wine from sun dried grapes, aged in 5-year old barrels. Nose of sweet cherries, prunes and honey, almost port-like. It is fairly full-bodied on the palate, yet elegant with an almost rich sweetness.

The icing of the cake for me came in the form of a Gaia Estate Magnum 2004, signed by Yiannis Paraskevopoulos. Every participant of the tasting event wrote his or her name on a piece of paper and a random winner was picked. The stars must have aligned for me that evening, as my name was pulled out. This treasure now has a special place in my wine cellar.