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The joys of savouring awesome wines from some of the 1,800 vineyards on the Greek Peloponnese

Greek wine? I worried it might be a poisoned chalice – steeped in retsina nightmares from youthful travels. But of course it isn’t. A whole new Dionysian world has opened up in Greece recently, spearheaded by a young generation of wine-makers intent on creating something new.

Vineyards are a fun addition to travel, a sort of handrail for a driving holiday, and wine trails have recently been developed by Greece on Crete and the Cyclades islands as well as on the mainland, around its Macedonia region in the north and Peloponnese in the south.

Wine works well out of season, so in mid-October, just after the grape harvest, we enjoy five days of reliable blue skies. Flying in and out of Athens also gives us the chance to visit the city and test our knowledge in the bars and restaurants.

After a hair-raising drive around Athens, it all became easy when we found ourselves on the motorway heading west to the Peloponnese, that ‘hand’ of mountainous land hanging off the narrow neck at Corinth.

Ninety minutes from the capital, it is the southernmost part of the mainland and its 300 vineyards of 1995 have mushroomed into 1,800 today. We decided to visit two regions within an easy drive of one another. The first in Nemea, the largest cultivation region; the second further south, in Mantinia.

James Henderson embarks on a Greek wine odyssey in the Peloponnese, stopping at vineyards and paying a visit to the seaside town of Nafplion (above)

Semeli Estate (semeliestate.gr) sits around an ultra-modern building with far-reaching views. The cold nights at this elevation combined with searing days, the limestone soil (whose high pH encourages acidity) and the air coming off the Corinthian Gulf all benefit the grapes.

The winery, all serried steel vats and hoses like snakes, had that fresh smell of vinification – some grapes were in the final stages of fermentation.

From a taste, it is clear the flavours are established even at this early stage, and it is then a matter of retaining and developing them. We followed the gravity-fed process down to the cellars where vintages were maturing in oak barrels. Wielding a huge syringe, wine-maker Yiannis Flerianos drew more for us to taste.

Once, Greek wine was a family affair, pressed from half-acre vineyards and served in small glasses as tall ones could be knocked over while passing platters during communal meals under vine-clad pergolas. Not so now. The restaurant at Semeli has a modern feel, with polished concrete floors and walls burnished in copper and gold.

A flight of estate wines was served in fulsome glasses, enabling their bouquet. Its Thea white, reflecting the landscape (thea means view), is a delight so we brought a bottle home. Though you may need to limit yourself for customs reasons, some vineyards export and others can ship for you.

So what brought about this wine renaissance? Since the 1980s, wine-makers have been studying and working abroad, returning with techniques to improve vinification. Push has added to pull – Greeks travelling abroad have come home with expectations, so estates are now turning out sparkling and sweet wines alongside stalwarts.

Plus, Athens has exploded with cool restaurants and bars. With tavernas no longer the only option, diners want good wine with sophisticated food, and so a ‘Provence effect’ has resulted in lighter rosés than the traditionally darker Greek version.

Given that we can count on two hands the grape varieties we generally drink – merlots and chardonnays, the occasional exotic viognier or tempranillo – it’s surprising to hear that Greece has more than 100 indigenous varieties. In Nemea, the signature grape is the red agiorgitiko, which is known for freshness, resulting from its acidity. Agiorgitiko reds are aged in oak or acacia, and end up light but nicely rounded.

The 300 vineyards of 1995 on the Peloponnese have mushroomed into 1,800 today. Above is a vineyard in the region’s inner valleys

James samples wine from the Driopi Estate 

We journey towards the seaside town of Nafplion via an estate developed by three generations of the Skouras family.

Domaine Skouras (skouras.gr) was started in 1985 and now turns out 800,000 bottles a year. Vineyards on the trail offer a tour of their cellars and a tasting of a selection of wines. After our tour, Dimitris Skouras appears. He studied oenology in France and brings a youthful energy to the vineyard’s future, contributing his own vintages. But he’s clear about his family’s philosophy of keeping it ‘how it’s supposed to be’. ‘Chardonnay comes from everywhere now,’ he adds. ‘We want to create wine with a sense of place.’

There is evidence of 4,000 years of wine-making in Greece and, while driving, this seeps through my brain.

The Peloponnese is steeped in antiquity. Ancient names flash past, signs to Olympia and Sparta, stories resurfacing from my ‘Class Civ’ lessons 40 years before. Mycenae! With a screech of brakes, I turn off for a look. The city is one of the cradles of European civilisation, its excavations as deeply layered as the names buried in my mind. Perseus, Hercules and Clytemnestra were all here. The museum has some exceptional necklaces, clay figurines and amphorae, well worth an hour or two’s diversion. In the web of the Peloponnese’s ‘thumb’, Nafplion is a lovely town, having escaped the curse of post-war redevelopment in concrete.

Its early settlement spills down the hillside in chaotic steps and alleys, then orders itself into a grid-iron interspersed with the remnants of occupiers – former Turkish mosques and Venetian squares. An outer fringe of restaurants overlooks the yachts and bay.

We settle in to rooms overlooking a Venetian-style piazza at Castellano Hotel, restored by Neoklasiki, a hotel group breathing life into several old buildings.

James rounds off his tour in Athens where he enjoys a five-course dinner with paired wines at By The Glass (above)

Cheers: James calls at Heteroclito (above), one of the most popular wine bars in Athens

TRAVEL FACTS 

James Henderson travelled as a guest of the Greek National Tourism Organisation (visitgreece.gr). He stayed in the old city of Nafplion at Castellano (castellanohotel.gr) and in Athens at Athens Flair (athensflair.com) in the Kolonaki district. B&B at Athens Flair from £175 per room per night in April, £185 in May. Enterprise car hire costs from £150 for a four-day trip in May (enterprise.com). Tours and tastings at wineries range from about £13 to £20pp.

The exteriors have been retained but inside is a mix of traditional and contemporary. Set in another of its houses, in a narrow street, is 3Sixty Restaurant, where residents wander by and stop to chat with staff. I follow spicy crab tartare with a medallion of succulent steak.

Next morning we drive up to our second wine region, Mantinia, set in a plateau surrounded by mountains on the Peloponnese’s ‘palm’. It’s home to the aromatic moschofilero grape, some of which was still fermenting as we arrived at the Spiropoulos vineyard (ktimaspiropoulos.com). Here, vintner Christine Spiropoulos has been developing a biodynamic estate – making natural, organic wines, encouraging insects and flora around the vines.

Further south, where flatlands crumple into rolling hills, lies the Driopi Estate (tselepos.gr/ktima-driopi). The ‘Master of Moschofilero’, Yianni Tselepos, arrived here in 1989 and has planted vineyards ever since. His moschofilero grape is famously high in acidity and citrus flavour.

Our return via Athens gives us an evening to see the wines in action. Restaurant by the Glass is a bustling place, with shelves stacked with bottles that offers a large range of mostly Greek wines. Over our five courses, they paired several from Nemea, including one from Semeli and another from Skouras. We finish the evening at Heteroclito, one of the most popular wine bars in Athens.

Were all the wines that we drank delicious? Some felt a bit sharp, others were thin. But Greek wines vinegary enough to dress a salad? No longer.

You will find whites sharp enough to stand up in any cool wine bar, and plenty of nicely rounded reds to fortify a good meal.

…AND THE CYPRIOTS HAVE GOT A FEW CORKERS TOO!

It was my third winery of the day and I was speaking fluent grape. The previously unpronounceable xynisteri, maratheftiko and yiannoudi were now old friends and I was saying them like a local.

Working my way across Cyprus via its vineyards was a great way of exploring the island – a history via oenology tour, from modern vineries with the latest technology to small, independent producers.

The 5,500-year-old wine tradition here has stayed true through ancient Rome and Greek rule, the Ottoman Empire, France, Venice and the British. To show off the number of vineries scattered across the island, seven wine routes have been created.

I stayed in Paphos and just outside was my first stop, Vouni Panayia (vounipanayiawinery.com). Its Alina wine is made from one of Cyprus’s most widely planted white grapes, xynisteri, which makes a sauvignon blanc-style white.

Next, I headed to the village of Kathikas and the Vasilikon winery (vasilikon.com), founded in 1993. Surrounded by vines on all sides, it includes a museum, tasting room and laboratory. I sample more xyinsteri and a new rosé named Ainalia.

I then descended to the Gerolemo vinery (ktimagerolemo.com) in the village of Omodos. A sign reads: ‘Wine is bottled poetry.’

For owner Chariloas Athenodorous, it is a labour of love. He wooed his wife over shared bottles of xynisteri and is as proud of his new wines as his commandaria – a Cypriot sweet wine made from grapes left on the vine until late autumn when they look like raisins. The result is a deliciously sweet, gloopy glass of delight, all raisin and caramel – an indulgent and luxurious drink.

I couldn’t resist buying a couple of bottles to take home, so it’s best not to have just hand luggage on the plane.

By Sarah Bridge 



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