The joy of GREECE

One of the UK’s best-known wine experts can’t get enough of this ancient wine nation, with its mysterious mosaic of wine regions and grape varieties – here’s his guided tour of some of his favourite spots, from the mainland to the islands

- OLLY SMITH

Greek wine has been a passion of mine for years, as a DWWA judge for Greece up to 2012 and through visiting different regions of Greece every year of my adult life. I love recommending Greek wines for their unique balance of standout character and tremendous value.

Greek wines almost always exceed expectation, which is partly why they are so warmly received. Their grape varieties – whites, in particular – can reach exceptional heights. This is the reason that, aside from England, Greece is the place where I most often dream of planting a vineyard of my own.

I was particularly thrilled to pick out a Xinomavro from Apostolos Thymiopoulos on BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen, which led to Majestic reporting a sales rise of over 1,300% – equivalent to three months’ sales in a single morning.

So I leapt at the chance recently to visit some top-notch Greek wine producers, from Santorini in the Aegean to the Peloponnese peninsula on the mainland. While I only saw a fraction of this nation’s regional jigsaw of vineyard gems, it was fantastic to connect with a new generation and some fresh ideas: a heady combination that’s invigorating the Greek wine scene.

NEW GENERATION

I’ve grown up with an awareness of passionate Greek wine-growers whose cooperation has laid the foundations for the next generation to thrive Examples include George Skouras in Nemea, Peloponnese, who has brought his son Dimitris on board (skouras.gr), and Yiannis Paraskevopoulos of Gaia Wines