Wines of Greece

Greece has been making wine for thousands of years, and their wine industry has been making an exciting transformation over the last few years. Greece, in addition to being the birthplace of Dionysus, god of wine and the symbol of wine, it is also considered the birthplace of winemaking. Wines had many uses for the Greeks. It was often safer than water to drink. When wine was consumed it was one of Greeks important social forums. Beside the social aspect, wine was very important to them in religion. Wine was often used to douse the burn alter offerings, and was poured on the ground as an offering to the dead. Greek wine does appear to have it all—ancient history, climate and uniqueness. It has one more thing: pronunciation issues. Grape varieties such as Assyrtiko and Agiorgitiko tend to give us consumers speech paralysis. Most of us would rather order something familiar than dive off the wine pronunciation cliff. Agiorgitiko (ah-zheor-GEE-tee-koh) (red wine) is the second most-planted varietal in Greece. aka "the blood of Hercules”. Legend has it that the Agiorgitiko grape sprouted from the spilled blood of Hercules. These wines are low in acid, spicy, juicy red fruit, displaying raspberry, red plum and black licorice flavors. They tend to be medium to full body wines displaying notes of cedar. You might also find a Rose wine made from these grapes. This wine pairs well with medium bodied meats and vegetable dishes. Assyrtiko (A-SEER-tee-ko) (white wine) originated on the island of Santorini in northern Greece, and it’s the perfect wine to enjoy with seafood. These wines will have apple and pear flavors with a touch of spice. Theses wine are lovely with freshly grilled fish and are a complement to Mediterranean cuisine. The only Greek wine I would stay away from is called Retsina. This is usually a white wine, in which pine resin is added during the fermentation process. Today, you can find many excellent Greek wines with a lot of them still unknown to wine lovers worldwide. You should be able to find a good selection of these wines in the 10-15 dollar range to try. One of my favorites is Sigalas Assyrtiko from Santorini. The Sigalas Assyrtiko is no stranger to receiving excellent press from the Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. This is an awesome wine; look to pay around 20-25 dollars for it. If you are a white wine fan it’s worth the money. Until next time, cheers!

Rose Wines

Rose Wines

Rose wines have had an image problem to overcome, thanks in part to the consumer’s concept of "White Zinfandel," as many consumers mistake Rose wines to be overly sweet and cheap. Actually, the sales of Rose are on an upward swing. Once tragically uncool, Rose wine is now officially hip; even Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are in on the action with their recent purchase of a vineyard in France. Brad and Angelina’s release of their Miraval Rose, all 6,000 bottles, initially sold out within six hours.

You may not know that Rose wines are made from dark skinned grapes or red grape varietals like Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and even Zinfandel. Winemakers typically use a technique to produce Rose by preventing the red grape skins having extended contact time with the freshly pressed juice. These results attribute to the wine’s light pink to salmon hues which come from the short contact time. Rose wines are made practically everywhere wines are produced, including the US, France, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, and California where they make quite a bit of Rose.

Dry Rose wines are perfect for spring and summer, but more and more, people are turning to Rose for year round wine.  Its style, traditionally dry, light and refreshing, appeals both to white and red wine drinkers seeking something cool and refreshing to help beat the heat. These wines can be light to medium in body. The flavors of Rose wines tend to lean towards strawberry, cherry and raspberry with some even leaning towards watermelon. One of my wife’s favorites is Francis Ford Coppola Sophia Rose, Monterey County, California, which is a tribute to his only daughter. The bottle is uniquely shaped too!

Rose should be served chilled, and can be a refreshing accompaniment to a variety of warm weather fare as they are versatile and food friendly. The food pairing possibilities for Rose are almost endless: chicken, cold vegetables, salads, seafood, BBQ and pork. Rose can also be a perfect aperitif.

Give Rose a try. The vast majority offer a very good wine value at a reasonable price (under $20 dollars).

Don’t be afraid of Rose! Until next time, cheers!