Greece may be the cradle of winemaking. As long as 6,500 years ago wine here was an important part of life, of the economy, of Mediterranean trade. We don’t tend to think of Greece as a wine country, but it may be the mother country of wine in the Mediterranean world. Greek colonies spread to Italy, France and Spain and everywhere they went they planted vines that would thrive.
When wine experts discuss the wines of Greece words and regions like Chian, Coan, Corcyraean, Cretan, Euboean, Lesbian, Leucadian, Mendaean, Peparethan, Rhodian and Thasian roll off their tongues. To be certain, they mean nothing to me. But the product is as good as any I have enjoyed in France, Italy or Spain.
On Santorini, I discovered a Wine Route. A tour connecting vineyard to vineyard. A bit of Sonoma on Santorini, but beneath a brilliant blue sky and a seaside background that can’t be matched by other wine country I have visited. Assyrtiko and Athiri two of the Santorini white wines I enjoyed are rare in the U.S. but wonderful here.
Santorini is a unique environment for wine. This volcanic island suffered a catastrophic eruption around 1500 BC, leaving Greece–chalk and shale beneath ash, lava and pumice that provide vines the drainage and soil to produce extraordinary fruit. Sorry, but I never developed a taste for Retsina, they can keep that resin wine right next to their temples and theaters where local appreciate it.
