 Hello, welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Horkey. We are going to talk about Greek wines today. I'm super excited. Greek wines are having their moment in the sun right now, and I'm gonna show you why. It's because of some really unique grapes. The first thing you gotta know is even though that the Greeks are really credited with developing wine culture, I'm sorry, thousands and thousands of years ago, in the modern times, it's about three decades ago, Greek wines were really not renowned around the world as fine wines. This is now changing as the quality has risen and producers are getting better and better with increase of technology, knowledge of their local grapes, which we're gonna show off today. In the past, when I used to live in Singapore, there was a Greek restaurant that imported their own wines, and since wines are expensive in Singapore, I'd always go there, because the wine prices in the list were great. There were small producers, there were producers, the wines I couldn't get anywhere else in Singapore, and that's where I cut my teeth with Greek wines. I really started to love them. I'm too young in the industry to remember the olden times, about 30 years ago when they had such bad reputations. I've been to so many tastings in New York City, in Asia, tasting tons of Greek wines. I love all the producers. I'm hoping to make it there this year. So let's get into some of the wines. I think what makes Greek wines really special are all these weird and odd varieties that give flavors that are really unfamiliar to kind of more novice drinkers, or even more experienced drinkers for that matter. I'm gonna use examples from this winery, Monam Vazia today. I really like this winery. They're in the Peliponnes Peninsula in Greece. The reason I love this winery, first of all, it's family-owned by a lovely couple, Ellie and George, CBDIS, and they make a lot of blends and varado wines from unique grapes. They have a pretty big portfolio, and we're gonna taste some of those wines today. Another reason I like these wines is because they're priced very, very well. If you're in Europe, a lot of these wines are in the 10 euro range and under, and if they are in the US, they're in the UK, I don't think you're looking at more than 20 US dollars. So they deliver a lot of bang for the buck. So let's start to get into some of these grapes today. Monam Vazia is named after the place, and it's the birthplace of Malvazia. They're now about 30, I think 36 different varieties of Malvazia planted all around the Mediterranean, as started from here in Monam Vazia. They actually have a brilliant wine, a brilliant Malvazia, Sweet Wine 2012. This is a sun-dried sweet wine. This is the type of wine the Greeks were drinking, probably thousands of years ago. Sweet, luscious, caramelly, nutty. This wine is really actually phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal wine. It's one of Shirin's favorites. We're not gonna taste it today, but if you like sweet wines that have really coffee, toffee, brownie, nutty, walnut-y type flavors, you're really gonna like this. This is one of their best wines. It's really something special. But we're gonna try some of the fresh wines today, and we're gonna start out with a grape that's actually pretty well known, but not from Peloponnes. This is Assertico. This is the 2018 from Monam Vazia. Now Assertico's claim to fame are the wines of Santorini, this small volcanic island, and it's cool because it's so windy there. The vines are grown in almost like little nests to protect the grapes from the wind, and then the grapes are in the middle. There's volcanic soils there, but you can find Assertico throughout Greece. You can find it in blends for wines. They make a varietal wine, and what I like about that is the Asserticos are starting to get up in price. Some of the reserve bottlings I've seen up to 40, 50, 60, even $70. This wine will run you in at around 10 euros. It's kind of known as the Greek Riesling. Let's give this a, wow. This is no. And right off the bat, when you smell this, you can see why. It's intense, a little bit floral, but really intense. You get the citrus notes, a little bit of the white peach. I mean, the flavors just explode out of the glass. This wasn't really gonna be a scoring episode, but this wine's definitely take a 90-point tape wine. Razor sharp, it said the minerally feel, the reason that I really love Asserticos is because even though they're sharp, intense, high acid, minerally, they're not austere. You still have some fruit notes that makes it really enjoyable. Grey, sandy-like texture, long piercing finish, thanks to the Ascendi. Wow, really nice wine. Nice job, I'm on a vasia. It's not a scoring episode, but this is the type of wine that definitely would get 90 points. Another variety that they grow, and they're one of the few that grow this, is called Asperudi. This is also a white grape. Not many producers grow it. There's also another white grape that they grow that's famous in Greece called Moschifilero, something that you should look for. And then another famous Greek white grape called Malaguzia. Both of those grapes are a little more really floral, actually surprisingly floral for Mediterranean grapes. You want to check those out. Malaguzia especially is having its moment in the stun. Thanks to the producer, Giro Vassiliou. See if my Greek is right. Let's move on to a grape that the winemaker, Giorg Sividis, is actually a pioneer of. This is, let me see if I'm pronouncing this right. Chidonica, a very unique grape. This is one of the few producers of this wine. 2018, this actually won a gold trophy, the best of Balkans, the Balkans International Wine Competition. I was actually there last year, so very cool. Let's give this a little bit of a smell here. Now what I like about grape grapes is they're a little, almost Greek white grapes, is they're all kind of a little bit floral. Don't think of something explosive like muscadi, but you definitely get a little bit of yellow flower, kins, Asian pear type. It's not as intense on the nose as the Assertico, but it's definitely interesting. Let's give this a go. The Chidonica is a little bit more fuller in body, definitely lower in sensitivity. What's really nice about the wine is the texture. Full body for a stainless steel wine wine that does not see oak, lots of texture. I forgot my spittoon, so I gotta swallow everything today. You still get that minerally flavor. This is really good. I think this is gonna, the Assertico is gonna wow a lot more casual drinkers, because it's so explosive. This is really going to kind of tailor to the more geeky palates, because it's such a unique grape. It's so geeky, it's so round and full and there's a little bit of nuances there. I really like this wine as well. A lot of professionals I know like the wine as well. Let's get into some of the red grapes. One of my favorite red Greek grapes is Xenomafro. You're gonna see that in the Appalachian Nalsa and all different parts of Greece. I don't have an example today. I gotta tell you guys, that grape makes such undervalued wines. From old school traditional producers, those wines can be leathery. They can have a little bit of tomato leaf, a little bit of tar, and they have small tannins, high acidity. It really reminds me of Nebiolo and we take those wines to blind tastings a lot of times. Sometimes people actually think they are Nebiolo. Just think they are Barolo type wines. So that's something to look out for. It's my favorite Greek grape. Also spectacular value for money. It's gonna be a little bit more difficult for the casual palate because it's the highest acidity and the biting tannins. This grape is a little bit more easy and this is the most widely planted grape in Greece. And it's a little bit difficult for people to pronounce. Aviovertiko, which means actually just St. George. This is the Monovasia Red Dry 2013. This is mostly Aviovertiko and a little bit of the grape called Mavruti in the blend. Now, the reason Aviovertiko is a little bit easier for most people is you can make real simple table wines or you can make serious wines for barrel aging but it's got a lot of fruit. It's a little bit more plush. It's famous in the PDO and the Appalachian of Nemia. Tasted some great examples before. I've also tasted some examples that had seed tannins that were a little bit difficult. You definitely get the heat with this grape. This wine is aged in the barrel for 12 months. This is very stereotypical Aviovertiko and even though this is not a Nemia wine, this is actually a PGI wine from Blackonia. That's what it's labeled as. Really, really nice. Cherry flavors, cherry and leather. Feet for Old World fans, mineral. A little bit of tomato leaf. Wow, this is a lot. Of their portfolio, I've tasted the Chironica before. Their sweet Malvasi, I've tasted some of their blends. I have not tasted this wine before. It smells really good actually. Old World fans are gonna love this. This does remind me of Aviovertiko. Real plush, kind of sweet cherry notes in the front. Plush mouthfeel. The tannins are firm, but they're not too hard. Oh my gosh. Leathery, a little bit peppery. This wine is really good. I really, really enjoy it. This 2013 shows some age, shows some development. If I had to compare Aviovertiko, it's kind of like to me, a Mediterranean Merlot kind of mixed in with Alianaco from Southern Italy. That's kind of the imaginary blend I see there. So guys, tell me in the comments section below. Do you like Greek wines? Which ones do you like? Which grapes do you like? And was this video useful for you? Until then, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, Exotic Wine Travel. I will see you at the next episode.