Greece Flashcards
Learn the geography, grape varieties, climate, soil, wine styles, and producers of Greece.
What is the climate of Greece?
Hot Mediterranean
Which seas bracket Greece?
Ionian Sea – western side
Mediterranean Sea – southern side
Aegean Sea – eastern side
Eastern continental Greece is in a rain shadow.
What weather event can happen due to the rain shadow combined with the hot Mediterranean climate and lack of rainfall?
Drought can be a problem in eastern Greece due to the lack of rainfall, all the sunshine from the rain shadow, and the hot Mediterranean climate.
What is the name of the mountain range that creates the rain shadow on Greece’s mainland?
Pindos Oros
Which countries abut Greece’s northern border?
From west to east:
- Albania
- North Macedonia
- Bulgaria
- Turkey
What are the classification levels of wine in Greece?
- PDO
- PGI
Sometimes you’ll see Appellation d’origine de qualité supérieure on a bottle Greek wine.
What is this?
A subcategory within the PDO classification Greek winemakers can use for their dry wines exported to other markets.
What are the three Greek PDOs that have the highest international reputation (and that you need to know for the exam)?
- Naoussa PDO (Xinomavro)
- Nemea PDO (Agiorgitiko)
- Santorini PDO (Assyrtiko)
In which region is Naoussa PDO?
Macedonia
Altitude in Naoussa PDO goes about how high?
400 meters
Naoussa PDO is best known for what style of wine made from which grape?
Dry, red wines made from Xinomavro.
Many compare this grape to Nebbiolo!
The Peloponnese is best known for this PDO.
Nemea PDO
What is the red grape in Nemea PDO?
Agiorgitiko
What is the vineyard altitude range found in Nemea PDO?
230 - 900 meters
In which sea is the Greek island of Santorini?
Aegean Sea
What is the main soil type on Santorini?
Volcanic
What is the principal white grape for Santorini PDO?
Assyrtiko
What styles of wine are allowed to be made in the Santorini PDO?
Dry and sweet styles
What are sweet wines known as on Santorini?
How are they made?
Vinsanto
Late harvest grapes are dried in the sun for up to 14 days.
Aging takes place in old, neutral casks for at least 2 years, although many winemakers age their vinsanto longer.
Vines on Santorini are trained into a specific shape.
What is the shape into which the vines are trained?
What are the vines protected from?
Basket shaped training system trained low to the ground that protects vines from strong winds.
This low-to-the-ground vine training also helps the vine collect moisture from morning dew. Extra credit: this unique training is called Stefani (“crown”) or Kouloura (“wreath”).
