Hand Picked Selections in Greece

What can you say in a few pages about a 5000 year old civilization? I will relate one small monumental bit of Greek history and say a few words about the wines.

A Very Small Bit of History

To me the word ‘civilization’ must encompass freedom. A country whose citizens are not free is not a civilized country. There are about 3.6 billion acres of land on this planet (I looked it up). I can specify the single acre on which civilization was born. It lies within Greece.

There is a most famous hill in Athens, the Acropolis. The Parthenon, one of the world’s greatest buildings, is its crowning glory. A smaller, relatively unknown hill sits just west of the Acropolis. It is called the Aereopagus. In ancient Greece, the Acropolis was devoted to the Gods, the Aereopagus to the affairs of men.

Three thousand years ago the rulers of Athens were called ‘tyrants’. Originally the word just meant ‘ruler’, without the baggage it carries today. The Tyrant of Athens was appointed for life by the town’s most powerful citizens. One day a week the tyrant would go up on the Aereopagus and give his judgments on matters of the day. His word was law.

About 2600 years ago the ruling tyrant was, well, tyrannical. His judgments showed favoritism and he was also suspected of plotting to have his son succeed him. One hearing day on the Aereopagus hundreds of Athenians showed up instead of several dozen. Their spokesman told the tyrant that he was no longer in charge. The tyrant asked who was to replace him. He was told nobody, that from now on Athens would be ruled by its citizens. They had created a word to describe the new system. It was a combination of ‘demos’ (people) and ‘kratia’ (rule). From now on Athens would be a ‘demokratia’ – democracy.

On that day, in that place, human civilization began. Every time I go to Greece I walk up the worn, slippery marble steps to the top of Aereopagus, which today is just a rubble of rock. I give thanks to those citizens who stood there so long ago for what they did on that day. If the people of Greece ever need help and I can provide it, they can count on me. I owe them. All free people are in their debt.

Greek Wines

The people who invented democracy are also the world’s most individualistic. There are 10 million people in Greece. It helps to think of Greece as consisting of 10 million independent countries, each inhabited by its own Greek.

So it shouldn’t be any surprise that “It is easier to count the sand on the beach than the grape varieties grown in Greece” – Virgil, 29 B.C. Virgil may have exaggerated but there are at least 300 varietals, maybe over 600, grown no place else. A grape census is being taken, but it will take forever and cannot possibly be completely accurate. Not all of these make fine, or even good wine. However the best of these varietals are full of character and flavor, giving good, fine and even great wine when handled correctly.

The highest quality white wine grape is Assyrtico. Native to the breathtakingly beautiful island of Santorini, the wine is so subtle that it is almost impossible to describe. Throw a dollop of Viognier into a high class blend of Chardonnay and Chenin, or maybe there’s a touch of Roussanne, or maybe Semillon? Athiri and a clone called Thrapsathiri are often blended with it, an earthier sturdier wine that is fine on its own. Moschofilero seems to be a distant relative (or ancestor?) of Muscat but is more subtle. Roditis can produce simple wines but the best are powerful with some complexity. Even Savatiano, Greece’s most widely planted varietal makes pleasant wine, keeping good acidity in the Attic heat.

Two reds top the list: Aghioritiko (there are multiple spellings and it translates directly as ‘Saint George’) is the great grape of Nemea. The wine resembles a lovely blend of Merlot and Grenache, with an aristocratic touch of Cabernet Sauvignon. Xynomavro is the grape of Naoussa in the north.

If Nemea is Greece’s Bordeaux, then Naoussa is its Burgundy and Xynomavro its equivalent of Pinot Noir.

The Limnios, or Lemnos varietal found on the island of the same name deserves mention. The wine is good, rarely fine and never great. However, a 3500 year old agricultural text gives a detailed description of this varietal, its cultivation, and winemaking methods. Read the text and you can identify the vine. Follow instructions and you will make good wine. This has to be the world’s oldest identifiable varietal, making Germany’s Elbling seem like a modern hybrid.

I don’t have the time, space or knowledge to go into the specific regions, island groups and islands within those groups, but over time these wines will gain a place in the world’s wine markets as consumers increasingly search for original as well as fine wines.