sign in sign up
<<
Home , Kylix, Oenochoe, Pithos, Savatiano

Greek rank with the best varieties and -growing regions

By TULA LEWNES

With a -making dating back to antiquity and the favorable cli­ matic conditions prevailing in for the cultivation of the vine - hot springs and summers, mild winters, plenty of sunshine, proximity of the sea to the , rocky soil, and vine­ yards located in semi-mountainous areas, it is little wonder that the wines of Greece rank with the best to be found anywhere and their high quality has won them many international awards.

The types of wine made in Greece include red, rose', white, sparkling wines, table wines, dessert wines, dry, semi-dry, medium sweet, and sweet. Some of the better known wines are the splendid, natural aperitifs and des­ sert wines of Samos,_Patras, Lemnos, Rhodes, and Cephalonia; Mantinia, an elegant with a delicate bou­ quet; Robola of Cephalonia, a distin­ guished white; full-bodied reds of Naoussa, Amynteon, and Nemea; and

Wine making in . From an .

the ruby wines of Rapsani, Rhodes, ; fruity in taste with a floral Archanes, and Daphne. bouquet. The selected grape varieties for whites Robola - one of Greece's noblest are as follows: wines, from Cephalonia. - grown on the island of Savatiano - the most widely planted and on Chalkidiki; produces variety of white . A three-handled amphora in the palace a full-bodied taste with delicate Roditis - well-balanced with a deli­ style from the port area of (I5 bouquet. cate bouquet. Comes from Attiki in the century b.c.) Vilana - grown on the island of north, western Peloponnese, and

DECEMBER, 1991 47 Thessaly. the sea indent the coastlines, shaping it The selected grape varieties for reds into peninsulas. are as follows: The wine-growing regions are as Moschofilero - grown on the Pelop­ follows: onnese; produces a dry wine with an -The western slopes of the Pindus aromatic bouquet. Mountains in Epirus; Locales of Zitsa Agioritiko - also from the Pelopon­ and Metsovo (where the highest vine­ nese, in the region of Corinth; has a yard in Greece is located). Considerable velvety taste suitable to both young and experimentation on French and Greek aged wines. cultivars is taking place there. -North of the Plain of Salonika - Xynomavro - grown in Macedonia pressed against the Yogoslavian border for an aged wine; this is a taut, astring­ in the towns of Naoussa, Goumenitsa, ent grape, tasting like a sour plum. In and Amynteon. the bottle and the barrel, it developes an -The Sithonian Peninsula on two of elegance and delicate flavor which pene­ the three fingers extending from the trates and lasts. Chalkidiki land mass. Locales of the Porto Carras environs and Mount Kotsifali - grown on the island of Athos, where vineyards have been Crete. tended by the monks for centuries. Of Greece's annual wine production, 60% is white wine and 40% is red. The -The Peloponnese - in the moun­ vineyards cover an area of 90,000 hec­ tainous region of Nemea (known for its tares and are all privately owned. fine red wines) and that of Mantinia Mountains and water divide Greece (known for its delicate whites). The area of Patras, famous for its Mavrodaphne. into many regions. High peaks cut off A nine handled (amphora), valleys and plains, separating them -The Southeastern Uplands in the aJamous example oj the marine type from one another, while long arms of Plain of Attica and on the island of (from the museum oJHeraklion about 1450 B.C.). gooooooooooooooooocccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooocc000000000000000000000000000000 ESTATE Premium Wines of Greece HATZI-MICHALIS

"BOTTLED EXCLUSIVELY FOR ATIIKI" Telephone 7181463-3900 515 Peninsula Boulevard 5161489-7600 (@)ATTIKI @ Hempstead, New York 11550 Importers & Distributors,lnc. Facsimile 5161 486-7940

48 GREEK-AMERICAN REVIEW Euboea. Cephalonia in the Ionian huge jars in the palace of at islands is home to Robola. Knossos from a recipe given to the king -In the Aegean island group, of Crete by the Delphic oracle, which Sam os, Lesvos, and Lemnos are the symbolized wisdom. wine-producing islands and in the In ancient Greece, wine was classified Cyclades group, Santorini is the wine­ according to quality, age, , and making island. the method by which it was stored. This -The Dodecanese Islands have was considered so important that Rhodes as the major wine producer. amphorae handles were marked with the name of the vintner and of the local provincial or city ruler. For greater in Greece enjoyment, the wines were sometimes Contemporary Greek vineyards are scented with myrrh or floral essence. exactly in the same loci as in mythical Rose-scented wines were very desirable. years when warriors and heroes harv­ They would be served in different ves­ ested the nectar of the vine. In Crete, sels: a , , or - especially, one finds the most tradi­ depending on the occasion and the tional European vineyards, planted particular wine. Amphorae were used to with old varieties producing red and store, trade and transport the wine. white wines from the ungrafted vines Today, wine from Greece's ancient, that yield "sultanas" and "rasaki" table indigenous vine varieties, is elemental grapes. The old Cretan grape strains in and vigorous - tasting of rocks and A hand made Pithos (amphora)/rom Allica (from the "reds" are: Romeiko from Canea; bushes. the private collection a/Mr. Vorres). Kotsifali from Herakleion; and Liatiko from Lasithi. In the "whites," there is Vilana, Athiri, and Ladikino. In the extreme east corner of Crete are the Sitia and Daphnes vineyards, which are the descendants of the Malvasia, known in medieval times as "malmsey" wine in England. According to legend, it was the nectar of the gods and was made in

Bronze implements/or wine-making/rom Derveni, end a/the IVth century B.C. (from the museum o/Thessaloniki)

DECEMBER, 1991 49