I'm going to Greece

[hazardnc]

I will soon be traveling to Crete, Santorini, Milos, sifnos and Athens. I know Santorini has some decent wines, but what about everywhere else? Luckily, the spouse actually likes restina, but I am not so fond. I hope you oenophiles have some suggestions.

[Busboy]

I spent eight weeks in Greece a couple of years back, drinking oceans of wine, from whatever cheap swill they served in tin cups at forgettable tavernas to expensive wines at Michelin-starred restaurants and never once had retsina served to me. If I can give you no other comfort, you can relax on that matter.

If you fly into Athens, keep an eye out for a small handbook on Greek wine that is sold in the bookshop -- a little out of date, but very helpful. I'll see if I can find my copy and give you a little more detail, but it will be there in the section that features Greek cookbooks.

I don't know what your budget is, but I found that in most tavernas and informal spots, it made more sense to just order whatever they were drawing from the barrel in the basement. Sometimes it was pretty bad. Sometimes it was surprisingly good. But, given the choice between an 8-euro liter of something intriguing and an inevitably mediocre 20-euro 750 bottle, I preferred the former.

The main wine Santorini is called asyrtico, it's very similar -- to my palate -- to Sauvignon Blanc and I found it a bit tedious. If you're in a better restaurant, you might look for white winesfrom the Peloponnese, which I preferred.

The two red varieties to keep an eye out for are Agiorgitiko and Xynomavro (spelling differs) . I particularly like the latter, strikes me as similar to a Pinot Noiron steroids -- a little more chest hair and a little less grace, but quite good.

Note also that Greeks make some excellent roses, which are perfect for quaffing on an island afternoon, and a fine muscat dessert wine from the Island of Samos.

If you don't mind going a little out of your way -- it's in a close-in Athens suburb, reachable by subway or cab -- you might want to try the restaurant Gefseis me Omnasia Proelfsis; Kifisias 317; 210 6202 158; reviewed here and here. They run the restaurant in conjunction with a wine shop and if you're not getting proper satisfaction from the Greek stuff, they have a fine selection of French and American.

Have a great trip.

[JohnL]

Retsina is a wine that goes back two thousand years or so. It is still popular (though it is nowhere near what it once was in terms of popularity).

It is however, much higher quality today than ever before. The Greek government has strict regulations as to how much resin (0.15 to 1%) and other factors such as minimum acidity etc. I admit that retsina is an acquired taste but the best examples are great with food--especially foods that require an assertive wine.

Greek wines are on the precipice of becoming much more widely popular as wine making techniques and viticulture are improving rapidly and Greek food is also emerging as it is more and more refined via technique.

(it is no coincidence that Spanish wines are taking off around the world as Spanish cuisine is also exploding)

There are a large number of native grapes both red and white as well as international varietals (cabernet, merlot etc) used in wine making today and there are some high end "boutique" wines being made. this is probably a very exciting time to travel to Greece there's a lot going on in wine and food!!!!

The most comprehensive book available now is "The Wines of Greece" by Lazerakis (Mitchell Beazley--who else?).

--- the Oxford Companion has quite a bit of information.

Also try some of the many web sites:

www.greekwinemakers.com

www.allaboutgreekwine.com

[hazardnc]

Wow - thanks to you both.

Busboy, I have just skimmed your Athens and Crete pages. Again - WOW! We will be spending time Crete and have somewhat regretted all along not just sticking to Crete and skipping the other islands, but this is a first (and hopefully not LAST) trip to Greece. I have already found the villa to rent - now I just need to start saving up the funds.

I will carefully read through your Athens suggestions - we are so looking forward to this!

[Busboy]

Wow - thanks to you both.

Busboy, I have just skimmed your Athens and Crete pages.  Again - WOW!  We will be spending time Crete and have somewhat regretted all along not just sticking to Crete and skipping the other islands, but this is a first (and hopefully not LAST) trip to Greece.  I have already found the villa to rent - now I just need to start saving up the funds.

I will carefully read through your Athens suggestions - we are so looking forward to this!

←

Boy, if you're getting a villa and have access to cooking facilities, I strongly urge you to find a nearby fish market. The stuff I saw there was incredible. Also: sea urchins. Get yourself a bunch and eat them fresh.

[hazardnc]

Wow - thanks to you both.

Busboy, I have just skimmed your Athens and Crete pages.  Again - WOW!  We will be spending time Crete and have somewhat regretted all along not just sticking to Crete and skipping the other islands, but this is a first (and hopefully not LAST) trip to Greece.  I have already found the villa to rent - now I just need to start saving up the funds.

I will carefully read through your Athens suggestions - we are so looking forward to this!

←

Boy, if you're getting a villa and have access to cooking facilities, I strongly urge you to find a nearby fish market. The stuff I saw there was incredible. Also: sea urchins. Get yourself a bunch and eat them fresh.

←

Do any restaurants serve sea urchins? Since I won't be getting the villas this year, I can't buy them from the market and cook them myself.

Speaking of fish markets - the one in Venice was truly spectacular as well. I always swore I'd go back to Venice and rent an apartment just so I could cook the fish. To be honest, that was about the only thing I liked about Venice!

[Busboy]

I saw sea urchins here and there, but they weren't standard taverna fare that I could discover -- I'd suggest looking for a fish taverna or, on the islands, anyplace close to the docks.