Greece/ Eastern Europe Flashcards
What is Retsina?
It’s an aromatized wine made w Aleppo pine resin
- Made from Savvatino grapes
- PGI
- Non Vintage
- based on Central Greece (Sterea Ellada) in the city of Attiki
What is OPE?
OPE is the PDO equivalent of Greece but it may only be used for traditional sweet wines
Where as the OPAP/APSQ is for PDO Dry
What is AOSQ?
AOSQ
Appellation of Superiror Quality or OPAP is the PDO of Greek dry wines
What are Greece’s aging designations?
•Reserve
- W 1 yr total (6 mts oak+3 btl)
- R 2 yr total (12 mts oak+ 6 btl)
•Grand Reserve
- W 2yr total (12 mts oak + 6 btl)
- R 4yr total (18 mts oak + 18 btl)
•Cava
- White and Rose 1 yr total aging (PGI) (6 mnts)
- Reds 3 yrs total (12 mnts Oak)
What’s the difference between varietal and table wines in Greece?
They’re both below PGI’s, varietal can have a vintage and varietal on label where as the table wines can not
What’s verdea?
A traditional Greek wine (PGI)
Oxidative white wine made in the Island of Zakinthos in the Ionian Sea
State the structure of PGI wines in Greece
PGI’s are divided in 3 categories
•Regional: pelopponese and Crete
- Distric: Political state boundaries of Greece
- Area: so small they may only be one state
What’s does “Palaiomenos se vareli” mean?
Indicates Oak aging beyond the minimum for Cava, Reserve and Grand Reserve.
Name all of Greece’s mainland regions
N-S
- Thrace
- Macedonia
- Epirus
- Thessalia
- Central Greece (Sterea Ellada)
- Peloponnese
Name the PDO’s of Macedonia
W-E Best dry reds 4 PDOs
•Amynteo
-Xynomavro, greece’s coolest region, reds and Roses still and sparkling
•Naoussa
-Xynomavro, home of Boutari dry red
•Goumenissa
-Xynomavro + 20% Negoska
lighter dry reds
• Slopes of Meliton (Plagies Melitona)
Monopoly for Dom Carras, both cabs + limnio
Whites are assyrtiko, Athiri and Rhoditis
Name the main grapes of Macedonia
Reds
•Xynomavro (black acid)
•Negoska
-Both Cabs for Dom Carras
Whites •Assyrtiko •Athiri •Rhoditis •Malagousia (Dom Carras)
What’s Carras in Greece?
It’s a famous producer along w Boutari in Macedonia, but unlike Boutari, Dom Carras has his own PDO (slopes of Meliton or Plagies Melitona) and uses Both Cabernets and limnio instead of Xynomavro
What’s Thessaloniki?
A PGI distric in northern Macedonia, famous for Dom Carras and it’s native white Malagousia that they saved from extinction
What are the PDOs of Peloponnese?
•Nemea
-red (dry/sweet) made of Agiorgitiko -“blood of Hercules”
•Mantinia
- only Whites of Moscofilero
•Patras
-Roditis (dry whites)
Plus the 3 dessert Parras
- muscat of Patras. VDN and/or natty sweet
- muscat of Rio Patra. VDN and/or natty sweet
-Mavrodaphne of Patras
A sweet fortified red with at least 1 yr cask
Name all the PDOs for sweet wines in Peloponnese
•Muscat of Patras
VDN or sweet / Muscat BAPG
•Muscat of Rio Patras
VDN or sweet / Muscat BAPG
•Mavrodaphne of Patras
Sweet fortified red made of Mavrodaphne and Mavri Koriantiki (1 yr aging)
•Monemvassia-Malvasia
Both the grape and the place (SE) 2yr aging ox
What’s Cretes most cultivated grape?
It’s white Vilana
Sitia and Peza PDOs
What’s the name of the grape that Cretes most talented winemakers prefer and why?
Instead of the PDO Vilana they prefer to use Vidiano because it retains more acid
What’s the dominant grape in Siria and Dafnes?
These are PDOs in Crete, Greece
The grape is red Liatiko
What’s Mandilaria?
It’s a red grape in the Aegean Islands, in particular
- Archanes
- Peza
Often blended w kotsifali (kotsifali is often blended w Syrah too)
What’s the main grape of Santorini?
White Assyrtiko
Plus Athiri and Aidani
Stefani vine training is common here
What’s the vine training method of santorini?
Stefani, it’s a basket shape training method to protect the grapes from the Aegean winds and collect a little moisture
What’s the name of the sweet wine made in Santorini?
•Vinsanto
Sweet dried grape wine (passito/straw wine)
What’s the name of the only PDO that mandates white grapes in a red wine in Greece?
Paros, north of Crete
- Mandilaria red
- Monemvassia white
What’s Samos?
It’s an island that produces Greces most famous sweet wines.
•Muscat of Samos
Aka Moscato Aspro
Produced in vin de liqueur, vin doux naturel and naturally sweet versions.
What’s Samos Nectar?
It’s a straw wine of Vin de Paille aged for 3 yrs made of Muscat BAPG, has to be naturally sweet. Located NE of Crete in South Greece
What’s Szaraz?
•Dry
It means dry and it’s used on tokaj
What’s Szamorodni??
It means “as it grew or comes”
•meaning it can contain a blend of healthy and bortytized grapes and so it can be made in sweet and dry styles
2 YRS MANDATORY AGING
- Szaraz Szamorodni = DRY (dry sherry)
- Edes Szamorodni = Sweet (50-100 RS)
What’s “edes”?
It’s a sweetness level in tokaji, for Szamorodni wines (blend of healthy and bortritized grapes)
Indicating a sweet style of anywhere from 50 to 100 RS
What are the main varieties for dry tokaji?
These are known as Szamorodni
- Furmint
- Harslevelu
- Sarga Muskotali
What’s especial about the vintages of 1990 and 1984 of Chateau musar?
They were never realeased mainly bc of war preventing the grapes from getting to the winery on time
