I am being asked on a regular basis what wine to serve at different occasions. Most of the times, people look for general advice, rather than specific food and wine pairing combinations. In Greece, events are usually attended by a large number of people, as socialising is a big part of the Greek culture. I [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
Tsaoussi is an indigenous Greek grape variety mainly found on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, although it has been suggested to be of Macedonian origin. Kefalonia shot to fame when the best seller “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” was transformed into a movie that was shot on the island. It is located in the heart of an earthquake [...]
The 14th Oinotelia Greek wine exhibition took place last weekend at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaron Mousikis). I really do like this event, as the exhibition hall is spacious, and the number of wine estates who show their wines is limited. This is one of the few wine exhibitions where one is actually able to [...]
Greek wines deserve a much better image. Sometimes it seems that only the Greek vintners themselves are aware about the stunning and exciting wines that they are able to craft. An image is in many cases created over time by a population of people from different backgrounds who share similar experiences. To change the existing [...]
I feel strongly that Greek wines are ready to take the plunge. In order to put my money where my mouth is, I organised a tasting event of a large variety of Greek wines to be scrutinized by a number of well-known German wine personalities, on Monday, November 9th, in Hamburg. My experiences to date [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
