The real surprise for me in the last two years of wine club was the evening we spent drinking Greek wine. This was Lea’s suggestion – her name comes from Greece and she’s travelled there often – and to be honest, I think most of us thought the food would be great, but the wine would be rubbish. I first thought we might have got that wrong when we were at a wine tasting at Fortnum & Mason (not as expensive as it sounds), and the host said to us that wine buyers are getting really excited about Greek wines at the moment.
Apparently most of the Greek grapes have been exported and turned into wine elsewhere (Italy in particular). The Greeks aren’t massive drinkers, so although vines have been planted there for thousands of years (6,500 years by some estimates), producing high-quality wines is a relatively recent thing. An influx of EU money, a programme that started in the 1980s of replanting old wines, and new technology all mean that there’s some great wine coming out of Greece now.
Lea chose all indigenous grapes rather than imported grapes, and I loved all of them (although to be fair, I usually do).
The first was a dry white wine from Santorini: Hatzidakis, Assyrtiko Cuvee 2011 (grape: Assyrtiko, pronounced A seer tee ko).It was the most expensive of the night, at £26 a bottle, and probably the one we had to work hardest at. The first mouthful tasted very full and slightly earthy (the tasting notes said ‘wet stone’), but it had a lovely finish and the more we drank the more we liked it! It’s dry, golden yellow in colour and smelt citrussy and flinty, but packed a punch when you tasted it.
Next up was a Gentilini Robola 2012 from Cephalonia (Robola is one of Cepahalonia’s most famous grapes), another dry white. I absolutely loved it (and have bought it a few times since). It was very pale coloured, with a very mild ‘nose’, and a lovely crisp lemon and mineral taste, much lighter and cleaner than the Assyrtiko. We could all imagine sitting outside on a summer evening enjoying this. It cost £14.50 but was well worth it.
Then we moved onto the reds. First of all we tried the hardest wine of the evening to pronounce: Thymiopoulos Xinomarvo Jenues Vignes 2011 Naoussa (grape: Xinomavro, pronounced Ksee no ma vro). I think we all agreed this was the find of the evening at £12.50; it was very like a Nebbiolo from Piedmonte, with flavours of strawberries, raspberries and cherries, but with a hint of spice (much more spice on the nose than in the glass). It was quite light-bodied (it’s unoaked) and dry, and really smooth to drink. Delicious.
Finally, we tried a Skouras Grande Cuvve Nemea 2007 from the Peleponnese. This is made from 100% Aghiorgitiko grape (pronounced Ah yor yee ti ko). It’s grown at 1050 metres, which makes it one of the highest red wine vineyards in Europe. It was a much more full bodied red than the Xinomavro, with a beautiful intense ruby-red colour, and an oakiness that comes from spending 12 onths in new French Oak barrels. It smelt spicy and fruity, and tasted of cherry, vanilla and spice. It was a bit pricey at £21, but worth it for a treat.
All these wines came from the amazing Theatre of Wine which specialises in unusual wines and has an incredibly helpful team of people to take you through different options. It has shops in in Greenwich and Tufnell Park in London, but delivers to most of London. Website: www.theatreofwine.com
