Wine regions of the world 12 Greece
Out of all the wine producing country that you have in
Europe it must be one of the oldest. And as so much of Ancient Greek culture
was taken on by the Romans and then pushed all over there empire that it would
look like the Romans invent wine. The
fact that neither of them did and it probably first was produced in Georgia
around 7000 BC. Or Greater Iran dated 4500 BC or Armenia 4100, but defiantly
not the Greeks or the Romans.
But having said that Greece is one of the oldest
wine-producing regions in the world, dating back to about 6,500 years ago. In
fact it can be said that Greece influenced the rest of Europe. The ancient Greeks where pioneers in
viticulture and wine production. And evidence shows that by trade and other
methods that what are now France, Italy, Austria and Russia to name a few where
shown how to by the Greeks. It was the winemaking Celts, Etruscans, Scythians
and ultimately the Romans who then carried it on.
In researching this I found a rather lovely quote that goes
“The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they
learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.” By Thucydides a Greek historian,
on olives and wine no maths and philosophy think of that.
But take all that into consideration and you never really
think of Greek wine. Why is that, is it
because you just never think about it because it is bad, no. Or is it because
you never think about it because you have that snob value that it is the thing
you drink on holiday. Cheap plonk that you drink on a hot day, from a barrel to
the table. Whatever the reason are the
fact is that like any wine producing count it has a wide range of wins that
would please the most decreeing palate.
You have any number of wines growing in the full sun but
other grown up mountain sides to keep them cool. There are main wine regions and
the islands all producing wine all very different but the main thing you need
to remember is that you have four kinds of clarification .
First Table Wines or Επιτραπέζιοι Οίνοι , table wine does
not include any information identifying the region, the grape varieties used or
the vintage year. They are sort of brand name and known for their consistent
quality from year to year.
Then you have Regional Wines or Τοπικοί Οίνοι a sort of better quality wine not so mass produced .
And then you have
VQPRD Wines with Appellation of Superior Quality or Οίνοι Ονομασίας Προελεύσεως
Ανωτέρας Ποιότητος , or ΟΠΑΠ
And Wines with Appellation of Controlled Origin or Οίνοι Ονομασίας Προελεύσεως Eλεγχόμενης, or ΟΠΕ, which is only used for dessert wines.
Now to my shame or the fact that I have never got round to
drink that much I am guilty of only drinking the off Greek wine. But want I can say is that what I was first
told still stand true. Greek wine is hard to pronounce but easy to drink. So
next time you go wine, go Greek.
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