Comments on: Greek wines on the radar screen of German wine critics

By: German wine critics initiate a new era for Greek wines | ELLOINOS

German wine critics initiate a new era for Greek wines | ELLOINOS — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:08:32 +0000

[...] I wish to emphasise that nearly every single wine that I organised for the two tasting events received high scores. Most were in the 83 – 88 point range. This is a more than solid result. I spent a lot of time during my year meeting with growers and hunting for exciting quality wines. I am glad this effort yields results. Reports on the two tasting events can be found here and here. [...]

By: elloinos

elloinos — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:22:10 +0000

Guten Morgen Kosta, thank you for the useful information in regards to wines sold at the Athens airport – you might well be correct with the assumption of vested interests or special agreements being in place. Again in regards to single varietal Malagousia, just had a Porto Carras one which I liked, and also Roxanne Matsa produces one that is well worth checking out.

By: Kostas Katsoulieris

Kostas Katsoulieris — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:26:54 +0000

Markus, Guten Morgen. As for who to contact at the airport I think it would be Hellenic Duty Free or whoever runs the concession for the airport shops at El. Ven. I fear however that like in so much of Greece there will be a “cartel” or vested interests or a “special agreement” between the wine producers and the shop. A great shame since it does the consumer not to mention the Greek wine industry a disservice. I know we can’t have everything or a perfect selection (even Muenchen airport – my favourite EU airport – doesn’t have as good a selection of German wines as it could…). Thanks for the tips!

By: elloinos

elloinos — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:17:37 +0000

Kosta, thank you so much for the compliment, it means a lot to me! We had pure Syrah from Manousakis, Gentilini, Palivou and Pavlidis plus a number of blends. I love single varietal Malagousia – Gerovassiliou and Vatistas are very good choices.

By: Kostas Katsoulieris

Kostas Katsoulieris — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:46:05 +0000

Markus, it’s my pleasure as I enjoy your blog a lot both for introducing Greek wines I do not know (I admit I had never heard of Kydonitsa before your blog) but also because you present things in a way without the usual Greek hyperbole and emotion. I find a lot of Greek wine critics suffer from this and some of them moreover suffer from favouritism or prejudice towards certain producers – whereas you let the wines speak for themselves – which is exactly the way it should be. I would be interested to know which Greek Syrahs you presented…

As for price this is something that Greeks should be keenly aware of – I am against paying €50 for Avantis Collection when for the same money you could get a far better Ozzie or Safrican Shiraz not to mention a Rhone Syrah. The normal Avantis is however good value. I also hope that Greek wines that win awards do not immediately raise their prices. It would be a shame if Ovilos White (the revelation of the year for me and a world class Greek – hence it’s performance at the Decanter World Wine Awards) went up for example. It also makes buying these in retsaurants exhorbitant – I already have issues with the mark ups at many restaurants in the Big Olive.

Also great to see Malagouzia come second. I admit I have never tried this as a single varietal only in blends. Any good places to start?

By: elloinos

elloinos — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:29:44 +0000

Thank you Kosta, I appreciate your interaction on my blog a lot! It is a bit disappointing that not every producer sent in their samples, on the other hand, it was a great success that so many did! Shipping costs are very high in Greece, and I applaud everyone who supported me.

The reds were indeed preferred, although the whites were not simply brushed aside, I am looking forward to more in depth reporting from Mario Scheuermann and Eckhard Supp on this. I agree with you that there are too many Cabernet and Merlot wines around – in my general view, it is not easy for Greek wineries to compete here on an international level. There are exceptions, but not many. Many Syrah wines on the other hand start at a higher quality level, and the best are simply stunning.

In regards to the wines offered at the airport, I am happy to take any pointers on whom to contact – I have to admit that I have not yet looked into the issue in depth. Thanks again for your insightful comment!

By: Kostas Katsoulieris

Kostas Katsoulieris — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:27:31 +0000

Fantastic work Markus! A shame that some producers didn’t make it but the ones that did are some of my favourites. Another big surprise for me was that they preferred the reds to the whites as usually foreign wine critics / journalists prefer the whites over the reds. As for the Syrahs I would like to say it is a surprise but I too have become convinced of the strength of Syrah in Greece – partly because I have tasted (and fallen in love with) so many good ones but also because I believe that there are far too many Cabernets, Merlots and Bordeaux blends in Greece – most of which I find boring and perhaps a waste of talent/terroir. Indeed during my Summer holidays I came across small scale producers in both Syros and Cephalonia who planted Syrah and I await with bated breath the release of Kokkali’s Syrah as well as to see what Mercouri will do with their plantings.

On another note I was again disappointed by the selection of wines at Athens airport yesterday – perhaps I am living in a dream world where they could sell some of the wines that earned top marks at recent wine competitions – most of which do not have outrageous price tags. Moreover perhaps they could sell better versions of varietals/wines than the ones presently on offer i.e. Sigalas & Argyrou for Assyrtiko, Kyr Yianni, Dalamaras and Alpha for the Xinomavros, Kontoyiannis & Kechris for retsina… Keep up the great work!