The year 2021 is an emblematic year for Greece as the country celebrates its 200th anniversary since the Greek Revolution and the liberation from the Ottoman empire. Could that celebration of freedom and new opportunities extend to the wine world of today? Where stands Greek wine today, anyway? The history of Greek wine covers a huge timeline while the country is the world’s most ancient constant winemaker.. But let’s first take a look how we got there.
During the Venetian rule in Greece (12th – 17th century), Europe appreciated Greek wine for its ability to last through long shipping journeys because of their high sugar concentration.
Greek Revolution (1821) will prove to be a disaster for the vineyards, being destroyed or abandoned one after the other. European scientists though will start planting vines in Greece and exporting the product to Europe through the ports. The first French oenologists arrive in the country. Sadly, at the end of the century phylloxera arrives in Greece destroying once and for all ancient local varieties. It will not reach, however, the Greek islands which maintained their terroir untouched until today. A series of disastrous wars( WW1 & 2, Balkan Wars) shattered to the ground winemaking at the time.
After the wars, Retsina, Mavrodaphne and Samos were the only bottled wines that reached Europe. On 1971 Greece establishes for the first time a modern wine labelling system resembling the French wine laws. Famous vineyards, such as Naoussa, Nemea and Santorini start exporting again.
One step led to another and at the end of 90’s Greek wine finally boomed, getting one award after the other in International competitions. The country’s most powerful advantage, over 300 hundred indigenous varieties, becomes the passport for Europe once again, this time with exceptional winemaking methods and lust for quality.
These days we find Greece in the middle of a transition period that might elevate the country’s brand name and turn it into the next big thing (sic).
7 out of 10 people though still link Greek winemaking to sweet wines, Retsina or really cheap red dry wine that will give you a headache next morning. Can that be the case?
Truth stands as usually in the middle. Modern winemakers made a huge effort during the last years to rebrand Greek wine and gain a great reputation in the wine industry through their presence in contests and wine lists of Michelin stars restaurants. The majority of people that are not specialists though, appears to have had some bad experience tasting poor samples therefore labelling Greek wine a cheap solution in a supermarket or a necessary evil visiting Greek restaurants.
Truth is, Greece’s potentials are extremely high and the country’s future wine map has every chance to develop in a unique way. The examples of Moldavia and Croatia display the power of branding in the wine business while traditional winemaking countries such as Portugal or Georgia rebuilt their appellation system based on indigenous grape varieties and ancient winemaking techniques.
From the wet and cold winter of Northern Greece to the volcanic island of Santorini and from sunny Creta ( Europe’s most south point) to ancient Nemea giving birth to legendary red wines, Greece is an undiscovered wine world for the enthusiasts, a blend of identity, passion, flavours and a lot of outstanding wines to try.
* Visit our wine stories section and book the “Grape rebels” experience in order to taste the most important indigenous Greek grape varieties.
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