Greek Wines Are Trending

I know some of you most likely think I am crazy talking about Greek wines, but that is ok, I kind of like being an outlier. People thought I was nuts bringing in Washington State, (Quilceda Creek was $30.00 which is now $300.00) Oregon wines and even those from Santa Barbara — oh and hey, Austrian wines, too. This is my second trip to Greece in three years and the wines are superb. Not married by oak (kind of like too much cologne or perfume) the wines are real and authentic.

What do I mean by authentic? Well first of all, INDIGENOUS varietals, for reds grapes like mavrotragano, xinomavro (sour black, with xino meaning sour and mavro meaning black) agiorgitiko (ah-gee-or-gee-tee-ko) for whites roditis, malagousia, Moscofilero and assyrtiko. Speaking of assyrtiko the wines remind me of Chablis, great acidity, freshness and amazing with seafood. They have a touch more salinity to the wines and they are bit more lively. One of the keys with Santorini is they have never had phylloxera. One wine I bought, still untasted, is an an assyrtiko made from 200 year old vines. Will report back as soon as I taste it.

Call me crazy, (actually, please do) you heard it here first: Greek wines are hip.