In the last few years, British wine drinkers have happily mastered the tricky pronunciation of several novel indigenous Greek wine varietals, notably Assyrtiko and Xinomavro. Sales are roaring ahead - with prices, particularly for wines from Santorini in the south, breathlessly on their heels. Even so, the ambitions of wines from the country’s lesser-known regions are still little known.
That’s been the cue for the European Commission to invite a handful of UK wine professionals on a five-day trip to wineries in northern Greece and southern Bulgaria. On the tour are distinguished buyers including Lenka Sedlackova MW, head of brand at Bancroft Wines, plus stalwarts from Oxford Wines and the Wine Society and edgier outfits such as Diogenes the Dog and Wanderlust. The Buyer represents the media.
This is a strictly B2B affair under the EU’s clunkily named 'More Than Only Food and Drink' initiative. But the broad idea is to bring home to consumers in the UK that they can rely on EU products to be safe and sustainable.
The emergence of boutique wineries in Greece and Bulgaria is changing the wine landscape, as winemakers experiment with innovative techniques like skin contact and natural fermentation. These practices not only raise quality but also allow for greater expression of terroir. That whets the appetite of the growing cadre of often younger wine enthusiasts who want novel, interesting wines rather than the same old same old.
Several grape varieties stand out in Northern Greece. Among the indigenous varieties, Xinomavro is perhaps the most notable, known for its age-worthy reds with rich tannins and complex flavours. Other indigenous varieties such as Negoska, Assyrtiko, and Malagousia are important, particularly for their ability to produce high-quality, aromatic wines.
Xinomavro thrives in northern regions where the cooler climate helps preserve its acidity. Assyrtiko was originally from the southern island of Santorini, now also a super-glam tourist resort. It has found a second home in Northern Greece, yielding crisp, mineral-driven wines. Meanwhile, Malagousia, once nearly extinct, is now celebrated for its floral and fruity profiles.
Chatzivariti Estate in Goumenissa
Chloi Chatzivariti - constantly experimenting with techniques
After leaving Thessaloniki, our road trip stops at the Chatzivariti Estate in Goumenissa, a PDO dedicated to Xinomavro. This is a 20ha boutique winery that also grows Roditis, Assyrtiko and other grapes.
'Mass produced' winemaking at the vineyard has been ditched unceremoniously, replaced by a strict minimal intervention regime under Chloi Chatzivariti. She took over the business in 2017 and sparks flew when she first explained her plans for the vineyard.
“When I told my father that I would not use sulphur he said, well, you are going to make vinegar!”.
He was wrong. With her infectious enthusiasm, Chatzivariti is clearly a force of nature. A cleanliness fanatic, she has produced a range of interesting wines - none of them cheap.
“We are constantly experimenting with techniques such as carbonic maceration in red and white grapes, orange wines fermented in amphoras, the pet-nats, flor wines and whole-bunch pressing,” she explains.
The flagship wine is Chatzivaritis Goumenissa 2020, a full-bodied red, with smooth tannins and a long aftertaste. One of her more traditional offerings, the blend is 70% Xinomavro and 30% Negoska. (14% ABV, ex cellar €15.50). Then there is Wanderlust Rosé, (12% ABV) which could pass for either a white, rosé or even orange wine. It spends seven months on the lees.
But the biggest hit amongst the expert party from Blighty is the Migma Pet Nat Rosé (12% ABV, €16.5 ex cellar). Made from Muscat Blanc and Xinomavra, this refreshing and clean wine is one of the best pet nats I have tasted. Certain to appeal to the more youthful drinkers, it spirits you off to an al fresco picnic without you even leaving your chair. The wine buyers queue patiently before opening their wallets to buy bottles of the stuff to take back home.
Ktima Pavlidis
On next to Ktima Pavlidis, a 80ha estate outside the town of Drama to the east. Founded by a marble businessman, the winery is a gleaming showpiece, very similar to the monumental new wineries springing up in Ningxia, northern China. There are serried rows of stainless steel tanks and row after row of oak barrels costing €1000 apiece.
Where Chatzivariti oozes giddy experimentation, the winemaker and COO at Ktima Pavlidis, Athanasios Exarchou, oozes calm professionalism. His wines are more mainstream and, one guesses, he favours a mantra of continuous improvement rather than permanent revolution.
Ktima Pavlidis has two principal ranges. There are red, rosé and white versions of the lower one, Thema. And the more expensive Emphasis range has wine from the five varietals Assyrtiko, Chardonnay, Agiorgitiko, Syrah and Tempranillo. One of the best is the Emphasis Assytiko (€15 ex cellar). The grapes come from slopes at an altitude of 550 metres. Whole-bunch pressing is followed by skin–contact at low temperature. Bright, green-yellow colour, it is a full-bodied wine with a refreshing acidity and notes of citrus, stone and chalk.
Also worth trying is the Emphasis Tempranillo 2020. (15% ABV). With 14 months in oak this has some distinctive chewy tannins. When I ask about the ageing potential, the winemaker marches me off to the cellar to randomly choose a bottle of Ktima Pavlidis’s first batch of the wine back from 2004. Not the most expressive or complex, he admits, but well-made and still perfectly good.
Exarchou is not short of ambition. Quite the contrary. “Assyrtiko’s quality is very sensitive to yields and so we are reducing ours every year. After three or four years we hope to match Santorini or even better it.” That’s quite a boast since Santorini is the pinnacle of Greek winemaking at the moment, with a bottle costing roughly what you pay for some Meursault.
As The Buyer has commented before, nothing illustrates the resurgence of Greek wines better than the premiumisation of retsina. If you are antique enough, you will recall retsina as a pariah, a joke wine category. All that is long forgotten. Modern retsina is made following the same winemaking techniques of white wine or rosé, except for small pieces of Aleppo pine resin added to the must during fermentation. It is produced throughout Greece. And the European Union treats the name "retsina" as a protected designation of origin and a so-called traditional appellation, in other words, a sort of appellation without a geographical home.
The example we are offered is Glasses of Tear of the Pine (13.5% ABV, ex cellar €17) which has scored 97 in reputable wine tastings. With a lemon colour, there’s a light touch of the resin expressed through mastic, pine and rosemary. Fans claim resinated wines are elegant and smooth and believe that the best retsina now shows ageing potential. Somms too love them as they go with hard-to-pair foods like asparagus and artichokes.
