Don’t Tell the French and Italians – Their Wine is Greek – Greek City Times

The wines of France and Italy may be globally – and rightly so – revered, but like most good things, they have Greece to thank for it.

In a broad discussion of Greek wines on the Ouzo Talk podcast, avid wine collector Nick Andriotakis, alongside wine importer Con Ipermachou de Miloway, suggests that Greece’s position as the birthplace of a much of Western civilization extends to the culture of wine in Europe.

“The origins and heritage of the European wine industry come from Greece,” says Andriotakis.

“Remember, the Greeks had colonies all over the Mediterranean, as Plato said; ‘like frogs around a pond’.

“The Greeks took the vine to Marseilles, they took it to Spain, they took it to southern Italy, and the Romans took the Greek gods – took Dionysus and called him Bacchus – and have taken up wine culture. From there they then put it in turn all over Europe.

“Even today, in southern Italy, there are grape varieties that bear Greek names. ‘Greco di Tufo’ in Campania. “Aglianico” – which is a corruption of “Elliniko”. “Grechetto” is another.

“All of these Greek grape varieties passed through Italy and then finally made their way to Northern Europe.”

But while the wine reputation of France and Italy is far superior to that of Greece, the tide is slowly turning, with wine lovers in the Greek diaspora giving their support to a wave of Greek vineyards and their memorable offerings. .

Take Santorini’s “Assyrtiko”, for example, a wine that Andriotakis does not hesitate to call “the most unique wine in the world”, thanks to the volcanic and mineral-rich soil in which the grapes grow.

With some 350 varieties of indigenous Greek grape varieties – not found anywhere else in the world – and a great diversity of microclimates, Andriotakis is certain that Greece is just beginning and the best is yet to come.

“How many grape varieties can France extract in its wine industry? There could be ten, maybe twenty. said Andriotakis.

“The Greeks are just starting with 20 grape varieties now – to integrate. But they have 330 left, while the French have lost theirs. Not only did they lose theirs, but they lost their root system to phylloxera, and they brought American rootstocks to plant.

“But the Greeks still have part of their vineyards. Santorini again some of the wineries (there) are original and they have the most unique and amazing wineries in the world. We are fortunate to still have this story that is still relevant today and is happening today, and it is evolving.

“What you drink when you drink Greek wines – you drink the descendants of vineyards that have been around for thousands of years.”

It is a feeling that Ipermachou supports.

“You have 1,300 wineries in Greece – so you have a lot of wines to try. You have not seen anything yet.

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