Don’t let the hard-to-pronounce names put you off. If you’re after fresh, fruity wines for less, Greece is the word.
Kottabos was possibly the greatest drinking game of all time. Although it would ruin your carpet.
In Ancient Greece, you’d invite friends around and open a bottle, or amphora. Then you’d lie on couches and discuss great issues of the day, and the meaning of life. (You are in Ancient Greece, after all.)
Eventually, your host sets up a tall, metal pole in the middle of the room and perches a shallow dish on top. Now, everyone flings the dregs of wine in their cups at the dish. The one who knocks the dish off wins.
Greek wine is criminally underrated, and I reckon the revival of kottabos could increase sales.
The Greek word for wine – oenos – gave us ‘oenophile’ and ‘oenology’. And the Greek god Dionysus was around 1,000 years before the Romans had Bacchus.
But we find grapes like Agiorgitiko hard to pronounce, so we ignore this ancient wine culture in favour of… Merlot. ‘Ay-your-yitiko’ means St George and it’s a juicy, rounded red with a sweet chocolate finish.
Try Aldi Specially Selected Athlon Nemea Red (13%, £3.99).
Alternatively, there’s Thymiopoulos Atma Xinomavro (13%, £13, Waitrose) – a mouthful in more ways than one. However, the ‘zi-no-mavro’ grape is full of red fruit with a bright personality.
It’s made by one of the country’s finest producers, and it’s a steal at that price.
If you like Chablis, the white Assyrtiko grape is your thing – on steroids. Co-op Irresistible Assyrtiko 2023 (13%, £10) is full of tangy stone fruit and fresh citrus; a glorious seafood wine.
Once you start with Assyrtiko you’ll want to find more.
Many of the best wines come from Greece’s islands – Santorini is the most famous, particularly Argyros Santorini Assyrtiko 2023 (14%, £34), a fine white with layers of flavour and made from vines including those dating back to the Great Fire of London.
I’m also a fan of Lyrarakis Assyrtiko 2023 (13.5%, £13.99) from Crete. It has more floral aromas, but still a heart of tangy, minerally stone fruit-like white peach and apricot.
At Majestic, also pick up a bottle of Lyararakis Liatiko 2023 (13.5%, £13.99) – another Greek grape variety, this one native to Crete itself. You’ll get darker, wilder, juicy fruits and herbal complexity. A hugely versatile red, it will work with all sorts, but I love Greek lamb stew.
I’ll admit, I’m biased. When I started as a wine writer, the first place I went was Greece. We visited the Kir-Yianni winery, where I met its pioneering winemaker Yiannis Boutaris. Yiannis, who died last November, was also a brave and outspoken politician and had once been voted ‘the world’s best mayor’.
In the winery, his specialism was Xinomavro. So, Kir-Yianni Kali Riza Xinomavro 2021 (13.5%, £19.99) is my wine of the month. It’s an elegant, refined wine in the style of Italian reds like Barolo or Barbaresco with great balance of fruit and freshness and lengthy tannins.
Although perhaps don’t fling it across the room at a teetering metal dish.
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