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A New Generation
“There has been an explosion of boutique wineries,” says Kathy Spiliotopoulos of Nestor Imports, which brings in the wines of D. Kourtakis SA, Greece’s largest producer. “There are around 300 wineries, with more than 400 labels of Greek wines sold in the U.S. today.”
In the past decade, many of these wineries have been driven by a new generation of winemakers such as Yiannis Paraskevopoulos who founded Gaia, Apostol Spiropoulos of Domaine Spiropoulos, and Marianna Markantonatos of Gentilini Winery, all of whom are passionate about native Greek varietals (which number some 300, more than any country) but who also embrace modern winemaking techniques. Another prime mover is Yiannis Boutaris, head of Boutari, one of Greece’s largest producers (and where Paraskevopoulos was once winemaker). Boutaris also owns Kir-Yianni, a highly regarded smaller winery.
Unfortunately, many Greek wines are priced in the competitive $10 to $20 range. And while the European Union has pumped in money to improve the wines, there is little money to promote them abroad, one reason why U.S. imports of Greek wines were one one-hundreth (1/100) that of Italy last year, according to the National Association of Beverage Importers (NABI).
The Olympics should help that as well as America’s continued focus on the Mediterranean diet. Upscale Greek restaurants such as Molyvos and Milos Estiatorio in New York have changed the image of Greek cooking beyond one dominated by souvlaki and stuffed grape leaves. Non-Greek restaurants like Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan and Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., are looking to Greek wines to give their clientele new taste sensations. “Mainstream restaurants already have 25 Cabernets and Chardonnays,” says Andrea Englisis, an owner of Athenee Importers, which handles Gaia and other boutique wineries. “But they’re willing to listen when you talk about Greek varietals.”
Regions Rather Than Varietals
If only we could pronounce the varietals’ names. Assyrtiko, Moschofilero, Agiorgitiko, and Xynomavro, to name the top four, don’t easily roll off the tongue. However, Doug Polaner, an owner of Polaner Selections, doesn’t see the names as an obstacle. “Ten years ago no one ever heard of Austrian wines. Then Gruner Veltliner caught on,” he notes.
Englisis believes in focusing on regions rather than varietals. “I tell people not to bother with grape names but appellations, which can only use certain grape varieties anyway,” she says.
For example, when a customer at Molyvos asks sommelier Kamal Kouiri for a dry white wine, he’ll offer them “a Santorini,” meaning the Greek island that is home to perhaps Greece’s best white wine made from the Assyrtiko (ah-seer-tee-ko) grape like that Gaia Thalassitis. “It’s fresh with high acid and a smell of honeysuckle. You can feel the terroir from the volcanic soil and sea salt,” says Kouiri, who likens the wine to a Pinot Grigio from Friuli. Assyrtiko also has enough stuffing to take oak fermentation and aging as is the case with Boutari’s Kallisti and an oak-fermented Gaia Thalassitis. Unoaked, this is a perfect wine for seafood as well as lemony roasted chicken. With oak, think richer dishes such as pork or chicken with cream sauces.
Breakthrough White
Moschofilero (mo-sko-feel-er-o), on the other hand, is a wine that Boutari is promoting by grape name, not by the Mantinia appellation of the Peloponnese in southern Greece where it is primarily grown. Boutari is betting Moschofilero will be its breakthrough Greek wine, a notion that has some merit because of qualities that lend it to matching with Latin American and Asian cuisines. Moschofilero is perfumed like Viognier or Muscat with a spicy quality something like Gewürztraminer.
Roditis (row-di-tees), a pink-skinned grape traditionally grown in the Peloponnese, can be made into white or rosé wines. It is frequently blended for Retsina with Savatiano (sah-vah-tee-ah-NO), Greece’s most widely planted white wine grape. Kouros is a Roditis that is sharply lemony, a good bet for shellfish. In Notios, Gaia blends Roditis with Moschofilero for a deliciously full-flavored white to match with seafood, poultry and light meats.
Moschato (mohs-KAT-oh) is the perfumed Muscat grape grown throughout the Mediterranean but which originates in Greece. On the island of Samos it is transformed into Greece’s best dessert wine. Robola (ro-BO-la) is dry white wine with high acidity from the Ionian island of Cephalonia.
Full-Bodied Reds and Intense Rosé
Agiorgitiko (ah-yor-YEE-tee-ko), better known as St. George, is one of the two top red varietals and produces a full-bodied wine from the Nemea region with soft and fleshy qualities like Merlot, which means it can be drunk young. Kouros, 100 percent Agiorgitiko, is ripe with cinnamon spice notes. Agiorgitiko is also blended with international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon to give it some backbone.
Xynomavro (zee-no-MAV-ro), when produced in the Naoussa appellation in northern Greece, results in a tannic wine that Polaner likens to Nebbiolo from Italy’s Piedmont. For earlier drinking it may be blended with less tannic wines such as Merlot (which Boutari does). In the nearby Amyndeon appellation Xynomavro is lighter and more approachable, like Pinot Noir. Kir-Yianni produces Akakies Xynomavro rosé that is the most intense rosé I’ve ever tasted.
Crete, says Herve Pennequin, sommelier of Milos Estiatorio, “has not yet shown real wines able to be put on the map” with the exception of some whites made from the Vilana varietal when yields are kept low, as in the Xerolithia Estate.
According to Englisis, 2002 was a “difficult year” with a great deal of rain. But 2000, 2001, and 2003 were all good vintages with 2000 the best for reds and 2003 “the best for whites in ages.”
Sam Gugino is the Taste columnist for Wine Spectator and author of Low-Fat Cooking to Beat the Clock.
