Greece Flashcards
God of wine
Dionysus
Greek word (origin) for sommelier
Oenohoos
Highest point in Greece
Mt. Olympus, also separates Thessaly from Macedonia
3 seas of Greece and location
- Ionian: to the west (separates Greece from Italy)
- Aegean: to the east
- Libyan/Crete: to the south
Synonym of Pinot gris
Monemvassia
Synonym of Agiorgitiko
St George
Synonym of Cabernet franc
Tsapournakos
This body of water separates Italy and Greece
Ionian Sea
This wind blows very dry air from the north, typically between mid-May and late September in Greece.
Meltemi
Name the 6 wine companies that have a historical importance in the creation of Greece’s modern wine laws
- Boutari: played an especially important role, establishing satellite wineries in many of Greece’s major appellations and sending its winemakers and vineyard managers to study in France far before that was commonplace
- Domaine Porto Carras: launched in 1970 and tapped famed Bordeaux enologist Émile Peynaud as its consultant
- Achaia Clauss, Kambas, Kourtakis, and Tsantali
Greece’s largestappellations for dry redwines, dry white wines, sweet whites and sweet reds?
- Red: Nemea (in Peloponnese -> 100% Agiorgitiko)
- White: Patras (in Peloponnese -> 100% Roditis)
- Sweet white: Samos (in Aegean Islands / Rhodes / 100% Moschato Aspro (Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains)
- Sweet red: Mavrodaphne of Patras (not just Patras since Patras is only for dry reds!!)
Key grape in Macedonia and Thessaly
Xinomavro
Which white grape accounts for 90% of all plantings in Greece?
Savatiano
Most planted red grape?
Agiorgitiko (5.28%)
Key grape in Sterea Ellada (Central Greece)
Savatiano
Top 3 grapes grown in Greece
- White: Savatiano (16.52%) — accounts for 90% of all plantings
- Pink: Rhoditis (14.34%)
- Red: Agiorgitiko (5.28%)
- The dominance of Savatiano and Roditis is in part due to their use as the base for Retsina
What are the 2 PGI’s in Greece, which are also Traditional Appellations (Traditional PGI wines marry process and place, and, as the name implies, serve to preserve ancient methods of wine production).
- Retsina: traditional Athenian wine, which can only be produced in 15 locations within Greece; cannot be labeled with a vintage
- Verdea: an oxidized white wine from the Ionian island Zakynthos
What is the sole appellation in Epirus in NW Greece and what is the grape? Styles produced?
- Zitsa
- 100% Debina grape (white)
- Still dry, fruity, crisp whites
- Sparkling dry and semi-sweet
Santorini’s most widely planted white and red grape
- White: Assyrtiko
- Red: Mandilaria
This Greek word could even be considered the forerunner to the sommelier
Oenohoos
Naoussa is this Greek region’s most important appellation, what is the grape?
- Macedonia
- 100% Xinomavro
Macedonia’s (2) regions that require 100% Xinomavro
Amnyteo and Naoussa
Only appellation in Macedonia that makes dry whites and dry reds
Slopes of Meliton
Only white wine region in Thessaly, what are the grapes?
- Anchialos
- 80% Rhoditis, 20% Savatiao
This region in Thessaly requires Xinomavro to be co-fermented with two other red grapes (krassato, stavroto (ambelakiotiko)
Rapsani
Single producer appellation for Domaine Carras
Slopes of Meliton (in Macedonia)
Appellations in Macedonia
- P: Slopes of Meliton
- A: Amynteo
- N: Nemea
- G: Goumenissa
Appellations in Thessaly
- R: Rapsani
- A: Anchialos
- M: Messenikola
These 2 appellations in Greece requires Xinomavro to be co-fermented with other red grapes
- Goumenissa (in Macedonia)
- Rapsani (in Thessaly)
Name the 2 PDOs where the wines are not entirely dedicated to indigenous varieties
- Slopes of Meliton (Macedonia): can have CS + CF in reds
- Messenikola (Thessaly): can have Carignan + Syrah in reds
What is Greece’s most planted grape variety?
Savatiano
Greece’s largest island?
Crete
Peloponnese’s most famous red wine region and grape?
Nemea (Agiorgitiko)
Peloponnese is separated from the mainland by this body of water
Gulf of Corinthia
Which appellation contains Greece’s most area planted under vine at 29%?
Peloponnese
What is Greece’s largest white and red wine appellation?
White: Patras (100% Roditis)
Red: Nemea (100% Agiorgitiko)
**Both in Peloponnese
