在我飞行到上海的两个星期之前，我在国内参与了一个中国美食与希腊葡萄酒的晚宴。这一次的经验是个自我实现的愿望。
晚宴中，表达着中国不同地区的各式菜肴连续的端上桌。而在选择不同的希腊葡萄酒来搭配每一道菜肴，对我而言，可是个具有挑战性但也是个非常满意的经验。
中国美食可说是世上拥有最精美而独特风味的菜肴之一。因此，不适合搭配年份较浅而味道较强的葡萄酒。反而，具有一定年数的葡萄酒就成为主要的选择。较纯的红酒例如阿之拉提歌 （Agiorgitiko）和堂比尼罗（ Tempranillo）与大多数的菜肴都达到了完美的结合。而出乎我的预料，比白酒搭配，达到了更好的效果。这两种葡萄酒品种具有的果味，物质和深度与菜肴的风味十分相配。酒体微妙的构架与丝绒的单宁帮助加强了肉类本身的质感，也帮助调和菜肴的精致口味。
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Having a dinner party with Chinese food and Greek wine just two weeks before my trip to Sial/Shanghai was more than a self- fulfilling desire.
With small dishes arriving in succession representing the many different expressions of the Chinese cuisine, the task of pairing them with Greek wines was exceptional challenging and as it proved very rewarding.
Chinese food is one of the most delicate and flavoursome food in the world and cannot be enjoyed with aggressive, strong flavoured, relatively young wines. At this point maturity in the wines is essential with both Agiorgitiko and Tempranillo working best with all dishes, to our surprise even better than the whites.
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Tasting wines of grapes beyond the mainstream options, is more than just making discoveries for the discovery’s sake. Sophisticated wine lovers around the world are always looking for distinct wines, obscure grape varieties, or new wines areas. In the case of Limniona the impression is immediate, prompt, and pleasant. Being among the up-and-coming Greek red varieties, Limniona is displaying an unusual aromatic character full of exotic spiciness and exhibiting qualities with potential.
If the continuous growth of sparkling wine is one of the most interesting developments in the wine world recently, Greek wine producers, who invested in the sparkling wine segment, have every reason to feel optimistic about the sector’s future.
Sparkling wine in the world
Recent data indicate that sales of champagne and other sparkling wines are on the rise for most single markets, for both mature and developing. As an increasing number of high-quality sparkling wines become affordable, consumers drink sparkling wines regularly, rather than only on special occasions. Sales of sparkling wines are set to experience a farther global growth despite the difficult economic environment. Given this upward sales trend, Greek wine producers saw it as a great opportunity to expand business and something on which to build brand awareness.
Tasting Xinomavro, varietal, or blended, is always exciting. Xinomavro is one of the country’s most important black grape varieties and a racy grape with distinct qualities that often resemble those found in Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir. Powerful tannic structure, high acid what also its name Xino (sour) denotes, with great ageing potential, and capability to develop beautifully over time. Continue reading »
Grown mainly in west Macedonia and Thessalia, Xinomavro is capable of producing wines in many different styles illustrating each one of the four terroir/appellations where it grows; among them is Rapsani on Lower Mount Olympus’ foothills.
The official PDO zone Rapsani includes four villages: Ambelakia, Rapsani, from which it takes its name, Pyrgetos, and Krania.
Traditionally, equal amounts of Xinomavro, Krassato, and Stavroto, the latter called often Ampelakiotiko define the varietal composition of PDO Rapsani.
Tasting Nouveau wines, was barely tempting to follow complicated wine tasting procedures or make any thoughtful tasting notes. Drawing more by the purpose to decode the meaning behind the festivity of their arrival rather than due to belief of regarding Nouveau wines less sophisticate than any other.
Observing the magnitude of the Nouveau trend, which is impressive, it makes it almost impossible to ignore it. Enthusiastic wine lovers in bars and restaurants all over the world raise their glass of nouveau in honour of one of the most celebrated wines. Every year on third Thursday of November the wine world welcomes the year’s all-first wine after the harvest. All Nouveaux wines worldwide, including Greek, find their way into cheerful parties, where wine drinking stands in the epicentre of the life’s spontaneous enjoyment and basic happiness; a pure expression of a style, which displays vibrant colours, bright fruit and forward freshness.
Nouveaux wines demonstrate a strong manifestation of hope in times marked by economic depression apart from the fact that is considered a respectful marketing phenomenon. People need to feel glad and overcome even temporarily all the annoying problems that they have to contend on daily basis. However, the most interesting aspect of this vogue is that wine has such tremendous positive impact in people’s mood and cause us to remind that wine is always associated with occasions when people are at their best.
Three weeks ago I was lucky enough to except Costas Lalikos’ invitation to visit his winery located in Palaia Kavala (Old Kavala), a village north of the city of Kavala. My visit proved very rewarding as I had the opportunity and pleasure to taste cask samples many while fermenting. The whole experience was extremely interesting as we tasted the still yeasty Assyrtiko, the dull malic Sauvignon Blanc, the infant, blue-tinged tannic Tannat, the oak-flavoured Viognier or the experimental still aggressive and high-toned semi-sweet Muscat Blanc á petits grains waiting in oak barrel for its time.
Costas was exceptionally friendly and treate us with warmth and generosity. He is a passionate winemaker obsessed with winemaking talking about his loving wines every time he poured some in our glasses. Konstantinos Lazarakis MW describes Lalikos and his wines as the answer to anyone who would believe that fun works against serious labor.
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The rise of house brands, which are own-brand wines sold by big wine-retailers, may follow the rise of brands in general. Extremely popular in Britain accounting as Mike Veseth states in ”Wine Wars” for 40 per cent of total wine sales. Tesco is UK’s leader, offering reliable and easy to appreciate wines like Tesco Claret, Tesco Amarone & Tesco Beaujolais-Villages. Their existence facilitates consumers in choosing fast and with a-less-risk-feeling of a trusted product. The only problem for a ”house brand” is to gain the consumer’s trust. Once trust is built it sells like warm bread, as does in the instance of Tesco and Waitrose. Maybe the next step would be a direct involvement of these super-markets in wine production with their own teams of wine-makers and wine consultants.
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A MW STUDENT POINT OF VIEW
Over the last 30 years the world of wine has witnessed major changes in the wine trade with the fall of Old World and the impressive rise of New. According to recent IWSR statistics, USA now leads the ”light wine” market with sales in excess of 300 million cases leaving Italy in second position, while China has displaced UK from the top five wine-consuming nations. On the other hand, production in Europe is dropping having lost a share of 6.5 per cent over a 15-year period. There is no doubt that the barometer behind these changes is the wine-consumer, who with his purchasing power finds himself in the driver’s seat of the international wine trade’s present and future development. But how consumers choose and enjoy wine and how these choices affect the wine trade’s future? Up to which degree most of the people enjoy wine without ”understanding” it?
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Muscat craze. Moscato wine wave. Moscato madness. Muscat The Next, Big Thing? Are some of the words to describe the latest wine trend particularly in United States. A phenomenon with no other in the wine business to match drove sales in 2011 up to 70 per cent leaving Sauvignon Blanc in third place, with Pinot Grigio being in first. In order to meet the steady increasing demand grape-growing regions expand with new plantings and big companies invest heavily in new brands.
Under these circumstances American producers try to capture the market’s growth as do all the other international players. Greek producers traditionally make excellent Moschato in terms both of quality and style, either sweet or dry, still, or sparkling and can with no doubt satisfy the demanding Muscat market. It is yet to be seen wether this trend will be of benefit or not to the Greek producers.
