Native to the Peloponnese region, wines made from Moschofilero typically have a lighter, citrusy body. $26.80, finding.wine Tselepos Blanc de Gris Moschofilero

“This is a bright, refreshing Assyrtiko that shows tangerine and orange notes on the palate before the zingy lemon finish that makes you want to sip again and again,” says Zafeiropoulos. “We’ve made great Greek wines over the decades, but now we’re at a point where I see the consistency.” Photo by Philartphace/iStockĪssyrtiko most commonly comes from Santorini, but this version hails from mainland Greece at the foothills of Mount Pangeon. “I feel very confident selling them,” he says.

Today, Zafeiropoulos feels it’s an especially ideal time to spread the word about Greek wines. “It doesn’t have very aromatic expressions, but it has full flavor on the palate to make wines from light to medium to full-bodied,” Zafeiropoulos says. Assyrtiko is native to Santorini and displays strong structure with volcanic minerality, and it can be vinified in a wide range of styles. Beautiful temperatures, especially in the islands there was a good diurnal swing, which is good for acidity.” Hundreds of grape varieties grow in Greece, and interest is growing in more indigenous varietals. “Considering the region, people were growing vines because it was a great climate,” says Zafeiropoulos. Despite occupation during World War II, followed by a civil war and a military dictatorship, by 1971 Greece had established its first official classifications, adopting a two-tier system with Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). From the 1820s through the 1920s, the focus continued to shift further away from wine and largely on independence, as Greece slowly regained its land in segments. But when the Ottoman Empire took control in the mid-15th century, strict Muslim laws resulted in the heavy taxation of wine exporters, abandonment of vineyards, and the overall discouragement of wine production. “We went through a lot of phases,” says Dimitris Zafeiropoulos, global beverage director at Estiatorio Milos, an international Greek restaurant group whose New York wine bar serves around 100 labels of Greek wine.īefore and during Roman rule, wine flowed freely in Greece. However, the country’s tumultuous history put Greece behind many other European countries in the early establishment of viticulture, DOCs, and processing methods. After all, the mythological Dionysus was the god of wine not only for his rambunctious partying habits, but also for discovering viticulture. It’s hard to believe that the Greeks were latecomers to the modern wine world, given that they were some of the earliest wine drinkers in recorded history.

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