Greece/ Eastern Europe

Question 1

What is Retsina?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is OPE?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is AOSQ?

Answer 3

AOSQ

Appellation of Superiror Quality or OPAP is the PDO of Greek dry wines

Question 4

What are Greece’s aging designations?

Answer 4

•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)

Question 5

What’s the difference between varietal and table wines in Greece?

Answer 5

They’re both below PGI’s, varietal can have a vintage and varietal on label where as the table wines can not

Question 6

What’s verdea?

Answer 6

A traditional Greek wine (PGI)

Oxidative white wine made in the Island of Zakinthos in the Ionian Sea

Question 7

State the structure of PGI wines in Greece

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What’s does “Palaiomenos se vareli” mean?

Answer 8

Indicates Oak aging beyond the minimum for Cava, Reserve and Grand Reserve.

Question 9

Name all of Greece’s mainland regions

Answer 9

N-S

• Thrace
• Macedonia
• Epirus
• Thessalia
• Central Greece (Sterea Ellada)
• Peloponnese

Question 10

Name the PDO’s of Macedonia

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Name the main grapes of Macedonia

Answer 11

Reds
•Xynomavro (black acid)
•Negoska
-Both Cabs for Dom Carras

Whites 
•Assyrtiko
•Athiri
•Rhoditis
•Malagousia (Dom Carras)

Question 12

What’s Carras in Greece?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What’s Thessaloniki?

Answer 13

A PGI distric in northern Macedonia, famous for Dom Carras and it’s native white Malagousia that they saved from extinction

Question 14

What are the PDOs of Peloponnese?

Answer 14

•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

Question 15

Name all the PDOs for sweet wines in Peloponnese

Answer 15

•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

Question 16

What’s Cretes most cultivated grape?

Answer 16

It’s white Vilana

Sitia and Peza PDOs

Question 17

What’s the name of the grape that Cretes most talented winemakers prefer and why?

Answer 17

Instead of the PDO Vilana they prefer to use Vidiano because it retains more acid

Question 18

What’s the dominant grape in Siria and Dafnes?

Answer 18

These are PDOs in Crete, Greece

The grape is red Liatiko

Question 19

What’s Mandilaria?

Answer 19

It’s a red grape in the Aegean Islands, in particular

• Archanes
• Peza

Often blended w kotsifali (kotsifali is often blended w Syrah too)

Question 20

What’s the main grape of Santorini?

Answer 20

White Assyrtiko

Plus Athiri and Aidani

Stefani vine training is common here

Question 21

What’s the vine training method of santorini?

Answer 21

Stefani, it’s a basket shape training method to protect the grapes from the Aegean winds and collect a little moisture

Question 22

What’s the name of the sweet wine made in Santorini?

Answer 22

•Vinsanto

Sweet dried grape wine (passito/straw wine)

Question 23

What’s the name of the only PDO that mandates white grapes in a red wine in Greece?

Answer 23

Paros, north of Crete

• Mandilaria red
• Monemvassia white

Question 24

What’s Samos?

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

What’s Samos Nectar?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What’s Szaraz?

Answer 26

•Dry

It means dry and it’s used on tokaj

Question 27

What’s Szamorodni??

Answer 27

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)

Question 28

What’s “edes”?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

What are the main varieties for dry tokaji?

Answer 29

These are known as Szamorodni

• Furmint
• Harslevelu
• Sarga Muskotali

Question 30

What’s especial about the vintages of 1990 and 1984 of Chateau musar?

Answer 30

They were never realeased mainly bc of war preventing the grapes from getting to the winery on time