Meeting with Greek winemakers

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of welcoming a number of Greek winemakers at my home. Apostolos Thimiopoulos flew in from Thessaloniki, Christos Kokkalis and Thanassis Parparoussis shared a taxi from Pyrgos/Patras, Antonis Papantonis came from Nemea and Dimitris Gouravas from Athens. The first person arrived at 09:30 am, the last left at 08:00 pm - we used the whole day to discuss the promotion of Greek wines abroad. It was a very fruitful meeting, as many issues were tackled in great detail. My wife and my sister-in-law prepared great food, and I served the following wines from my cellar: A magnum of Zwalu 2003 Neil Ellis/Werner Naekel, single bottles of Masseto 2001, Casanova di Neri Pietradopice 2001, Casanova di Neri Brunello 2001, and for dessert Parparoussis Mavrodaphne 2003. This was a superb meeting and an important step to make Greek wines better known abroad. It is extremly important to work together as a team and I am very greatful for all the support I received. And of course it is always extremly useful to get the insights and honest thoughts of the people who spend their lifetime making the fascinating product called wine!

Skouras 2008 Rosé

Made from a blend of Roditis and Agiorgitiko. The colour is a light shiny piggy-pink. The nose is full of melon and raspberries, light but exotic. The palate consists of lots of fresh raspberries and ripe melon. The wine has a beautiful acidity and quite a good length, very elegant in style. The aftertaste brings back the ripe and exotic fruits, this is simply delicious. 16

Ktima Palivou, Vissino 2008 Rosé

This is a blend of Agiorgitiko and Syrah. The colour is a bright medium deep violet. The nose is very forthcoming and consists of cherries, stawberries and caramel. The wine is rich on the palate with lots of red summer fruits. The acidity and tannins are noticeable, but are perfectly balanced. This has its own character, it is rich but refreshing at the same time. It is beautifully made - a top notch pink wine! 16.5

Sabanis Collection 2008 Rosé Syrah

The maceration lasts for nine hours, the fermentation takes place at low temperatures, it is then matured on the lees. The colour is fairly deep for a pink wine, the bright and shiny strawberry red reminds of a Beaujolais. The nose is full of cherries and plums. There are lots of red summer fruits on the palate, with a tingling acidity. The finish has a good length, this is very good value for money. 14.5

Gaia 14-18 h, 2008 Rosé Agiorgitiko

The Gaia 14-18 h takes its name from the fact that it is macerated for fourteen to eighteen hours on the skins. This has always been one of my personal favorite Greek pink wines: It has a medium deep bright pink/violet colour. The nose smells of fresh stawberries, cherries, and apples. The wine is extremly refreshing on the palate, and it has a juicy acidity. This is a very well made pink wine from Agiorgitiko, and the winemaker succeeded in bringing out the pure fruit aromas that this grape variety exhibits. Simply delicious. 16

Ktima Ligas Rodandos 2008

The warmer time of the year is approaching fast, and one of the best treats is a glass of pink wine. Greece offers many styles of pink wines, the aromas and flavours of the different grape varieties used are stunning. I will write a mini-series of tasting notes on Greek pink wines, starting here with a 2008 Rodandos from Ktima Ligas. It is made from biological grown Xinomavro and Merlot grapes. The medium deep colour is similar to that of pink rose petals. It is bright and clean. The nose is quite open and reminds of freshly picked strawberries and clementines - very inviting indeed. The palate is dominated by a rich flavour of fruits, very fresh, again the red fruits are joined by citrus flavours. The soft acidity works very well with the residual sugar. A lovely wine. 15.5

Meeting with Julia Harding, Master of Wine, in London

I just came back from a 5-day trip to London, where I took my three eldest children for a Easter treat. We stayed with different friends and I took my kids to all the tourist attractions -

a double-decker bus tour, Tower of London, Natural History Museum, London Aquarium, London Eye, Science Museum, Musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat), Primrose Hill...

On 15th April, which was our last night, I had booked a room at the Hyatt Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street. Actually, we were upgraded to stay at a suite, which was perfect. I did bring 6 different wines along from Athens, as I had arranged to meet with Julia Harding, Master of Wine and the right hand of Jancis Robinson , Master of Wine. I arrived at the hotel at 6 pm and went to their flagship restaurant 1901 to see the sommelier. Joris Beijn is the head sommelier and wine buyer at the Andaz. I explained my plans and he was extremly helpful: He decanted the 5 red wines, cooled the white wine, organised a large private table at the 1901, provided glasses and spittoon - I am extremly grateful for his efforts. Joris simply wanted to help, and he went out of his way to provide the best service. Julia arrived at 8 pm and we made our way to the 1901. Julia was impressed with the venue and the setting, and was delighted to see a spittoon :) I did bring the following wines, which were tasted in this order:

1. Palivou Estate - Terra Leone - Ammos reserve - 2005 - Agiorgitiko
2. Parparoussis - Taos - 2004 (released in 2008) - Mavrodaphne
3. Dalamaras - Paliokalias - 2006 - Xinomavro
4. Thimiopoulos - Ghi ke Uranos - 2006 - Xinomavro
5. Kokkalis - Trilogia - 2006 - Cabernet Sauvignon
6. Claudia Papayianni - Claudia Papayianni white - 2007 - 40% Malagousia, 30% Assyrtico, 30% Chardonnay, 4 month aged in oak

We spent two hours tasting and discussing the wines. It was extremly interesting to see how a busy Master of Wine with lots and lots of tasting experience is evaluating the wines. Julia has a great personality and shared all her thoughts. She liked all the wines and of course wrote down her tasting notes in private, so no insights from me on scores etc ;) But this was not the reason I wanted to meet her anyway. I wanted to show her wines from Greece that only few people know abroad. Wines that show their terroir. Wines one can talk about for more than just a few minutes. I believe I have succeeded in doing so. I can only reveal that Joris, who tried all wines before decanting them, was extremly fond of the Parparoussis Taos and the Kokkalis Trilogia. Julia commented on the Papayianni white that she was impressed with the density and the aromas of the wine (note: the vines are all still very young, as this is a fairly new estate), and that the world needs more wines like this in a similar price range.

When we finished the tasting after two hours, I left the opened wines with Joris to enjoy them with his staff. I had to rush back to my room, where the DVD I had put on for my children just before I met with Julia had long finished. Luckily they were tired out from the days before and had gone to bed.

Julia, thanks for giving me the opportunity to show you some Greek wines! I had a great time that evening. Joris, thank you so much for your kind help, it was appreciated a lot!

Tasting Notes Mercouri Estate

Vassilis Papadopoulos is a sommelier and the co-owner of Kazakos Drink Bank, my favorite wine merchant in Athens. He gave me two bottles of wine to try. Both wines are from the Mercouri Estate. Vassilis tasted some experimental wines while visiting the estate and decided on the spot to purchase the whole production of 500 bottles each. These wines are therefore only available at Kazakos.

The first wine is a Refosco d.p. rosso from 2006. It has a superdark, rich and deep blackcherry colour. The rim just lightens up into a violet. The nose shows sweet red fruits, coupled with spices and it has gamey elements. Almonds, mocca and wild herbs are also included. It has a very mediterannean nose. As it starts to open up, there is a dense layer of burned earth, very intriguing, masculine and multi-dimensional. On the palate, the wine is medium-to full bodied. The fruits take control and lose their sweetness. Herbs and violets are there, also stewed plums. The tannins work well with the acidity. The finish is very long and the stewed plums return with the aftertaste. It is quite an explosive wine, a little unsettled or wild right now. It needs some more time in bottle - this will age gracefully. 18

The second wine is a Mavrodaphne 2005. It has a medium to dark redcherry colour with some watery purple on the rim. It has a very interesting nose of baked plums, but also a noticeable earthiness to it. There is a touch of sweetness and aromas of milk chocolate and truffels. It seems much more delicate and feminin in style when compared to the Refosco. It certainly has elegance. The palate confirms the nose. Stewed prunes, baked plums plus the truffels. The tannins are quite soft. There is a lot of fruit character, but not in a fresh summery style, rather autumn/winter style. The finish has a good length. The wine is very soft and elegant in style, it could use a bit more backbone, a little firmer structure. Delicious to drink now, I doubt that it will improve with further time. 16.5

I planted 1500 vines at Kokkalis

On Saturday, 28th March, I drove to Christos Kokkalis on a mission: He wants to plant new vines at two new plots at his vineyard. I arrived in the evening and we went out for a good meal, we brought along a bottle of his 2006 Syrah. We had a nice medium rare fillet - Christos said that he had shown the cook how to prepare the meat, because in Greece, it is usually cooked well done. I stayed at his house and we went to bed early, as a lot of work was waiting for us the next day.

We got up at 07:00 am, had a cup of coffee and went straight to work: First we collected the new vines, 600 Agiorgitiko, and the equipment, a small machine to drill the holes. It looked like a miniature version of a drill used to drill for oil, about 130 cm in height. Two workers joined us in the vineyard. First we had to measure the distance for the holes to be drilled: The rows were set 2.5 meters apart, the distance between the holes were set at 1 meter. One of the workers started to indicate the exact points where the next worker drilled the holes. Christos took the new vines and cropped the roots. I then planted the cropped vines into the holes. I had to make sure that the roots were firmly in the ground, using both hands to fill up the space with earth and pushing firmly into the ground, ensuring that no air pockets were left. The first third of the plot was quite stony; the second third was clay and the last part made up of sand. Amazing how the soil structure can vary within one plot of land of about 2000 square meters. The hardest part for me was the plantation of the vines in the clay part. How on earth could I ensure that no air pockets existed? Soon my hands were cracking open from all the firm pushing into the soil. The sweat was dripping and the work is actually quite exhausting from all the bending. I was congratulating myself that I have been practising Yoga on a daily basis for the last 3 years; otherwise my back would have certainly made much more trouble. At midday, we took a 30-minute break to eat some food. Christos was very pleased with the soil structure. He explained that the stony part will be responsible for a mineral character in the grapes, the clay adds a firm texture, and the sand will produce elegance and finesse. This was the second time that I have seen true terroir in Greece! We finished the work in the afternoon, then we organised a tractor to work the soil of the second plot of land. We left at about 0530 pm. I decided to stay overnight and to help Christos again on Monday. We were both exhausted and Christos prepared a meal at his home, after which he fell asleep on the sofa at 0800 pm :)

The next morning we rose again at 0700 am and picked up the other vines: 400 Cabernet Sauvignon and 500 Syrah. We started work just after 0800 am. Christos showed me that the Cabernet vines had already began to grow, as the eye started to develop on quite a few vines. I had to be extra careful not to hurt the eye. The plot was mostly made up of earth and sand; and also some loam, about 3000 square meters. We all had learned from the day before, and the teamwork was excellent, allowing us to work at a much faster rate. It was quite a warm day. When I started to plant the first vines I told Christos that the soil was less interesting then on the other plot, as it felt so soft. He smiled and replied that once the moisture would be gone, the soil would become as hard as cement, making the vines struggle to reach deep down with their roots. "Wine produced from this plot will be very elegant indeed, and I hope that I live long enough to be able to taste it. The other plot where we planted the Agiorgitiko also has a fantastic soil structure, it might produce such good quality grapes that I might decide to bottle a single vineyard Agiorgitiko."
We finished work in the afternoon and drove to his house where he gave me my reward for my work - a magnum of Trilogia 2005, and a bottle each of Trilogia 2006 and Syrah 2006 - I had a great time and learned a lot about the physical side of the wine business. I drove back home and arrived about 3.5 hours later. My children could not believe how dirty I was.

Visit from Antonis Papantonis

The 25th March is a public holiday in Greece, and I was very pleased to welcome Antonis Papantonis from the boutique winery Papantonis at my house. The estate's red wine is made from 100% Agiorgitiko and is not easy to find, as a large percentage of the production is sold to private clients. The wine is aged for 16 months in French oak, 20% of which is new. It is very enjoyable to drink young, but can easily be kept for 6 to 8 years.