Written by: Costas Economopoulos

[World of Chefs] [thegreekwine.com]

What comes to mind when we think about Greek wine? Retsina maybe? 

This wine is certainly a well-known Greek wine, with its pine-resin flavor, but Greek wineries are not just producing retsina.  During the last 25 years, the wine producers have been promoting wines that are produced under strict quality control by using local grape varieties. Many Greek wines, have received international recognition for their high quality and excellent taste.

The Greek landscape is ideal for unique microclimatic conditions favouring the cultivation of local grape varieties. Greece has over 300 local grape varieties.

Greek vineyards are cultivated on mountain slopes of up to 800m above the sea level. The soil characteristics for the majority of the vineyards are rocky limestone. The combination of a mild climate, a lot of sunshine and low rainfall make soils of moderate fertility and small crops of excellent quality.

The vineyards are widely spread over great areas of land but occupy small amounts of it.

The wines produced are light aperitifs and dry whites, fragrant roses, full-bodied reds and honeyed dessert. Some of the most widely planted vines are:

• Indigenous white: Aedani, Asyrtiko, Athiri, Debina,  Moschofilero, Muscat, Robola, Roditis, Savatiano.

• Indigenous red: Agiorgitiko, Kotsifali, Liatiko, Limnio, Mandelaria, Mavrodaphne, Xynomavro

Greece has over 380,000 acres of vines, less than half the vineyard area of the U.S. Total production is the equivalent of 45 million cases a year, less than a quarter that of the U.S.  Per-capita consumption is about 50 bottles a year; about five times that of the U.S.