Greece
Definition - What does Greece mean?
Greece is a European country bordered by Bulgaria to the north, Macedonia to the northwest and Turkey to the East.
Greece was the first wine-producing region in Europe and is also one of the world's oldest wine-producing regions. Winemaking in Greece dates back to 6,500 years ago where it was originally made only for household and the community consumption.
It was only under the Roman Empire that Greek wine was traded, especially in Italy.
WineFrog explains Greece
Like many modern wine-making countries in Europe, Greece also has its laws and regulations in order to protect tradition, fair trade and its consumers.
In Greece, there is a system of appellations in which they categorize their wines as follows, from highest quality to the lesser quality:
- Protected Geographical Origins (PDO) - an appellation of origin of superior quality
- Protected Geographical Identification (PGI) - quality wines of their origin
- Epitrapezios Oinos, (Vin de table) - These are not wines which come from a certified region and there are 3 categories in this classification:
1. Epitrapezios Oinos as a regular table wine with a screw top.
2. Cava and more prestigious white and red wines with minimum aging requirements; 1 year for white wine and 2 years for red.
3. Retsina, a locally made and traditional Greek wine flavored with resin from special Aleppo pine trees.
The main wine grapes of Greece are:
White Grapes
- Assyrtiko
- Athiri
- Debina
- Roditis
- Robola
- Savatiano
Red Grapes
- Agiorgitiko
- Xinomavro
- Mavrodaphne
