Greece - Wines & Regions

Climate:
Mediterranean, with cooler continental influences in the mountains.

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Soil:
Limestone subsoils on the mainland & volcanic soils on the islands. Low fertility.

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Red Grapes:

1) Mavrodaphne
Two styles:
a) Of Pátras – Port-like dessert wine
b) Dry style – For blending ~ aromatic yet powerful
2) Xynomavro
- Acidic, a good wine for ageing
- Seem harsh in youth but age well, e.g. Naoussa
- Used as a base for sparkling wines on the cool, high vineyards
- Style ~ relatively soft but have good acid & attractive bite
3) Limnio
- Produces a full-bodied wine with good level of acidity
4) Agioghitiko
- Second most planted red, after Xynomavro
- Blends well with other varieties, e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon
- Also produce good-quality rosé
- Style ~ Fruity but can lack acidity
5) Mendelaria
- Powerful speciality
- Often blended with the much softer Kotifali
- Third most planted red in Greece
- Thick-skinned, therefore high tannins & deep coloured

Pinkish White Grapes:
1) Rhoditis
- Sensitive to Powdery Mildew
- Ripens late & keep its acidity well even in such hot climate
- Also ripen well in high-altitude vineyards
- Often blended with the softer Savatiano, particularly for Retsina
2) Moscophilero
- Deep pink-skinned
- Strongly perfumed
- Spicy
- Name like Italy’s Vespaiolo, indicates insects are drawn to these ripe grapes
- Strong flavour similarities with Muscat

White Grapes:
1) Assyrtiko
- Top quality
- Useful because it can still retain acidity in hot climate
- Can compensate relatively low acidity of Savatiano
2) Robola
- Distinctly powerful
- Lemony, dry
- High acidity
- High extract
3) Savatiano
- Most common wine grape
- Light-berried
- Low acid
- Most common ingredient in Retsina
- Drought resistant
- Produce well-balanced dry whites
4) Debina
- Lightly sparkling
- High acid
- Tendency to oxidation


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Principal Viticultural Hazards:
- Drought, sudden storms

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Major Wines:

Retsina
- Produced throughout the Greece
- Main centres of production ~ Attica & Euboea
- Principal grape: Savatiano, may blend w/ a small amt of Rhoditis to increase acidity
- Made in exactly the same way as any dry white wine, except liquid Aleppine resin is added to the must during fermentation.

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Wine Regions:

1) The Peloponnese
a) Nemea AOQS
- Grape: Agioghitiko grown on red soils
- Barriques used, semi-carbonic maceration for Nemea Nouveau
b) Mantinia AOQS
- Grape: Moscophilero
- Fresh, dry, aromatic, slightly spicy
- Or with extended maceration, to yield a simple but fruity rosé
2) Central Greece
a) Zitsa AOQS
- Grape: Debina
- The only QWPSR of Epirus
b) Metsovo
- Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon + Agioghitiko
- Greece’s highest vineyards
3) Thessaly
a) Ankgialos AOQS
- Grape: Rhoditis + Savatiano
- Dry White
b) Rapsani AOQS
- Long lived, concentrated
c) Macedonia
- Xynomavro thrives at all altitudes, dense, tannic, long-lived
- Whites – Rhoditis, Assyrtiko draw supreme freshness & acidity
- Condition for fine wine production ~ southeastern slopes, altitude of between 200-350m, no serious lack of rain, winters are cool enough
d) Thrace
- Best whites from Malvasia, soft, fruity, freshly perfumed
e) Cotes de Meliton AOQS
- White & reds ~ made with a mix of Greek + French varieties, e.g. Cab.
f) Goumenissa
- Cool summers mean the dominant grape Xynomavro difficult to ripen
- Winemakers blend the wine with Negoska
g) Naoussa
- Must be aged for at least 1 year in oak
- Traditionally in old wooden casks
- Experimenting with new & small barriques
- Vineyard development: A system of defining the better slopes
- Awarding them Grand Cru status