Wine with Leslie: Look to Greece for modern wines
Wine with Leslie: Greek winemaking has been going through a renaissance in recent years with modern winemaking producing clean fruit-driven wines and lots of organic and biodynamic wine production
A new year forces us to pause and assess. However, in lieu of giving up things this January however, why not set your sights on acquiring new knowledge instead? The world of wine is broad and diverse and I guarantee there are at least 40 grapes you have never heard of available to try in your local off-licence.
This week I am focusing on Greece — the birthplace of modern wine culture and a fine source of rare grape varieties. You have probably attended a Symposium or two in life but you may not be aware that the word derives from the greek for ‘drinking party’ where groups would meet after dinner to discuss philosophy and music over wine.
Greek winemaking has been going through a renaissance in recent years with modern winemaking producing clean fruit-driven wines and lots of organic and biodynamic wine production. If your local off-licence doesn’t stock any, I suggest you ask 'why not?'.
Wines Direct import the excellent low-intervention Kamara range from Thessaloniki, an emerging region with a continental climate in Northern Greece. This is a small producer and a family affair with dad Dimitrious, a former chemical engineer, and his daughter Stavroula, an agronomist-oenologist. The wines are clean and fresh with delightful purity and verve — I recommend a red blend here but you should also try their pét-nat and their whites.
Lyrarakis from Crete is another producer I’ve mentioned and you will find their wines in good off-licences such as Neighbourhood Wines and MacCurtain Street. Once again organic production and low-intervention with some rare Cretan varieties to try.
Two new wines here are from Dom. Papagiannakos in Eastern Attica, around 35 km from Athens in Central Greece. Mild winters and hot summers, clay, limestone and gravel soils, hidden streams and undulating hills. Local grapes are well adapted here — I have featured their Agiorgitiko before but here are two of their white wines — Assyrtiko and Savatiano. The latter is often used for Retsina which is perhaps best drunk ice-cold on a hot day in Greece with taramasalata and crusty bread on the side rather than on a damp day in Ireland — the other wines here however will work admirably in Ireland this January.
Moschofilero is another underrated and aromatic Greek grape - blended here with pink-skinned Roditis to add acidity and freshness. Lychees and floral aromas not unlike Gewurztraminer — fruity and creamy on the palate but with a pleasing crisp saline finish.
Try with Moules Marinière or cod baked in yoghurt and spices (Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe is excellent)
This is a blend of Xinomavro (from Northern Greece) with less well-known Mandilaria sourced from the Aegean Islands. Fragrant, floral and fruity with a pleasing lightness of touch — red fruit aromas but darker fruits coming though on the mid-palate with good weight and texture and a fruity finish.
Serve a little cool to bring out the fruits.
Portugal is the other great country for unusual grape varieties and this lively rosé and its white cousin are both crowd-pleasers.
This is from local grapes Vinhão, Azal and Borracal and has a light spritz of fizz to heighten the flavours of the cherry and strawberry red fruits. At 9.5% it’s almost diet wine.
This is a low-intervention wine made from 35% Xinomavro, 35% Merlot and 30% Syrah using wild yeasts and with no added sulphur. Pristine and fresh tasting with ripe blackberry fruits and touches of spice underlying the creamy soft fruits.
This estate was a brilliant find by Wines Direct: all their wines are worth exploring.
From Attika in Central Greece around 35km from Athens. This producer’s ripe red Agiorgitiko is excellent and featured here before but I’ve not featured their Assyrtiko. A solid example of Greece’s best-known white variety, packed with lemon and grapefruit zing, lively crisp and refreshing — perfect for fish or pasta dishes.
Savatiano is the most widely planted white grape in Greece and is used for Retsina. If carefully cropped from old vines it can be delicious. This has tropical fruit aromas with lime and honey: textured and weighty with soft pear fruits and balancing acidity and tang.
Try with richer dishes such as risotto.
Hopefully Brewing in Waterford goes from strength to strength, I’ve yet to taste a dud beer from this brewery which also happens to be ‘socially and culturally conscious' and community-focused. This has a solid injection of Strata, Citra and Comet hops on a base of Extra Pale Maris Otter malt plus some oats for texture.
It pours a hazy lemon-gold with bright passion fruit and tropical aromas and background citrus notes including tangerine and lime. Creamy textured on the mid-palate with a full blast of hops on the finish and some lingering herbal and lemon zest notes.
