As far as it may be established, wine-making in Greece has a history of more than 3500 years. Even in this time-scale, it is worth noting that some interesting changes have taken place in the past five.
At the Greek embassy in Sofia, press attaches Nikolaos Vlahakis (from Crete, long famed for its light and sweet wines) and Mary Vaxevanidou (from northern Greece, home to some of the country’s choicest sweet and dry red wines) sat down to speak about Greece’s wines, ancient and modern.
Vlahakis said that in the past five years, experts had embarked on a revival of some very ancient varieties of wine.
On Crete, for example, a variety from the Venetian period of the island - which spanned the 13th to 17th centuries CE, was being revived. Crete, of course, is known for its Kotsifali variety, a red respected for its roundness and suitability for blending with some other varieties.
Overall, says Mary, contemporary Greek wine combines traditions with modern European standards, having earned all relevant ISO quality certificates.
Traditionally, Greek wine has a strong export market in Europe, but in 2006, declared the Year of Wine and Oil Production, the export potential to other places - the United States, Australia, and Africa - is being emphasised.
She says that it is important for Greece to drive home the point, when it comes to exports, that it is a producer of high-quality wine. Nikolaos expresses regret that the country was long known mainly for retsina, the wine augmented with resin originally made for poorer communities and stereotypically associated in the minds of tourists and foreigners with Greece.
Important events related to wine are being held in Greece in 2006.
On the island of Santorini from June 1 to 3, the fifth congress and fourth general assembly of International Associated Women in Wine is being held. The association is of women involved in wine-related activities in Greece, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria, and other countries. It serves as a forum for exchanging information, supporting women working in the wine industry, and arranging educational activities.
In parallel, the Ampelos (the Greek word for vineyard) is being held. Ampelos, held every two years, is a symposium on the evaluation and use of grapes of corresponding terroir through winemaking and commercialisation of wines.
In Mary’s own region, an organisation called Wineroads has been set up by the wine producers of northern Greece. There are seven “wine roads” which visitors may travel, seeing the historical attractions, learning about the making of wine, and, naturally, getting opportunities for tastings.
At the discussions in Santorini in June, a proposal is to be put forward to expand such “wine roads” to encompass both Greece and Bulgaria, thus building up alternative tourism opportunities.
Nikolaos’s family has a long tradition of making wine - the Kotsifali variety - which has been continued by his grandfather, father and brothers-in-law. Every year, families share in the cultural - and festive - tradition of helping each other with their harvests and wine-making.
He remembers, as a young man helping in the fields, a group of Dutch tourists visiting the area during the harvest, and, after being offered some grapes, the tourists being asked - seeing as they came from the Netherlands - what the Maastricht Treaty meant for local wine producers.
“Of course, they couldn’t answer this question,” he smiles, “but they did say that they hoped that in the next year, our wine would be in Dutch supermarkets.”
Mary and Nikolaos agree that Bulgarian wine is good. Among his Bulgarian wine favourites are the Assenovgrad Merlot and, of the whites, the traminers, while of Greek wines, he is fond of those from Santorini and the St George.
For more information:
www.seo.org.gr
www.gnto.gr
www.wineroads.gr
www.womenofwine.gr
www.enoaa.gr
www.greekwinemakers.com
