I fell in love.
Every menu featured popular, as well as not-so-known, wines from all over Greece. Very rarely did you find wine from other countries. They have a sense of national pride when it comes to their local food and wines. Not a meal went by that we didn't order by the glass or the bottle. The prices were great too! Most places offered house white or red for only 2.50 euro and carafes for less than 10. Bottles ranged from 20-30euro.
 |
| Carafes were in ceramic pitchers |
 |
| Popular white blend |
Greece is known for their white wines, mostly Assyrtiko. Also common is a sauvignon blanc, semillion blend which we drank quite often. The crisp, fruit forward flavors was a perfect match to the warm climate and light foods of Greece. However, some of their white wine was a bit too acidic to drink on it's own.
Whether it was by the pool, beach, with a meal or just enjoying a glass on the balcony, I must say we consumed quite a bit of Greek wine!
Every hotel and even the airlines greeted us with wine or sparkling as a congratulations. It was quite the welcome :)
However, Greek wine is hard to come by in the US. This could be for a couple reasons:
A. The market here in the US just isn't open to buying bottles where the words and grapes are foreign. We see this a lot in wine retail when it comes to selling French wine. The variety isn't listed, the labels are in a different language; it's just stubborn Americans not expanding their palate and minds. After being in wine retail, I can speak from experience. Take away here: expand!!
or
B. Greece doesn't export as much as other countries. I don't know the economics and politics behind their exportation but most of the wineries in Greece are smaller. I don't expect a lot of them actually exporting due to cost. Although, more research on the economics could be done here.
Have your own thought? Do let me know!
 |
| For a little humor... |
Stay tuned for a post of the wineries we visited, Santo Winery and Boutari!
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment