Happy 2010!

Hope the new year brings us peace, health, happiness and a good vintage...
Also, I would like to invite all of you to share your traditions of celebrating the arrival of the new year. Especially, your food and wine traditions.

It's almost a New Year

I will deviate from the norm of this blog tonight. It's December 30, 2009 and another year has passed. I could list all this year's best and worst stories; the election of a new president; the economy; the natural disasters; the continuation of wars; and much more. But I will not. Instead I will go to bed with the happy thought that my wines are one year older and better...cheers!

The Symposium

Wine had many uses for Greeks. The most well known was the symposium that was the most important social function and was centered around the drinking of wine, which was drunk almost always diluted with water. The practice of drinking undiluted wine was associated with northern barbarians. The symposia were not just for drinking and eating. They were the favorite forum of spirited discussions among philosophers and intellectuals that lasted several hours, often into the early morning hours. That might have been the reason for diluting the wine. While they enjoyed drinking wine during the course of the symposia, they wanted to maintain a sharp intellect during their dialectic exercises.

The practice of drinking wine with mezethes (varieties of appetizers) continues to this day and it is the favorite social form of the Greeks. Greeks rarely, if ever, engage in any kind of drinking without having some type of food to accompany the drinking of wine. Philosophy has been replaced by football and politics but everything else remains the same. It has become one of my favorite, often at mid-day, rituals as I gather with my friends at the Greek version of a pub to take a break from gardening or other manuals chores, taste some of the new vintages, try the daily specials of mezethes, and catch up with the news of the village.

This is what's all about...

If you look up in the dictionary the word wine, it says that it is the fermented juice of grapes, used as an alcoholic beverage and in cooking...What an inadequate definition!Moon-shine is an alcoholic beverage too. To properly define wine requires volumes and a lot of curiocity and, above all, passion for the "fermented juice of grapes". This blog provides the cyber space and you and me shall provide the curiocity and passion. Together let's begin this fascinating task of defining what wine means to you and me and how we can enhance our enjoyment of it.

Join me in the Journey...

Viticulture demands hard work. The villagers say that you know nothing about life unless you have planted a vineyard, built a house, or married your daughters--Greeks used to provide dowries for their girls. A vineyard, however, will reward you beyond your wildest dreams if you learn to be in tune with it and passionate about it. It's one of the few crops that requires year-round attention and back-breaking work. And when you finally harvest the grapes and start the wine making process, the magic begins...

It's this magic that has captivated me since childhood as I watched my parents and the other villagers go about their chores of tending their vineyards and making wine. Although, I have to admit, at the time I understood very little about how wine was made. I was totally fascinated with the vineyards and the grapes, especially during harvest, but was not particularly fond of wines as a child--as I am sure most children aren't. It was not till I started living in my village again, after almost half a century of living abroad, that I fell passionately in love with the vineyards and wine. It's this passion that will be the subject of this blog that I want to share with you. I hope you will join me in this journey.

Greeks and Wine...

Ancient Greeks believed that ignorance of viticulture was the mark of savages and wine the touchstone of civilization. Since ancient times, the villagers of Distomo grew grapes and made wine. When I was growing up, almost every household had a vineyard in the scarce land that was available near the village. But that wasn't enough for most families. If there was a small space in the back yard or by the balcony, there would certainly be a climbing vine that would be present.

Whenever possible this vine would form a canopy that would provide both shade and a source of grapes. We had one of those vines in our home. I would eagerly watch the vine in the spring as it was budding and later on as the flowers turned into pin-head size grapes. When the grapes began to ripe and turn into a brilliant red color, my mouth would water in anticipation of the day when I could slowly crush them between my teeth and taste their sweetness.
There were plenty of grapes in the village to eat in late summer and to make wine in the fall. While the quantity was always adequate, the quality was…well, let’s say there was plenty of good quality vinegar. The neighboring villages had neither the quantity nor the quality of our wine and that resulted to trading their local goods for our wine. There were several families that made a living from selling wine to a broader market as well.

The Wines of Distomo

The Village, its Vineyards and its People

In central Greece and not far from the oracle of Delphi and the monastery of Osios Loukas--two world-renowned tourist destinations-- there lays Distomo, a farming village, my village. Historians remind us that the degree to which communities and nations develop depends largely on their geography and climate. Distomo in that respect is blessed. Nested at more than 400 meters above sea level between mountains, allows the sea breezes and the brisk and cold northwestern winds to traverse the village. Its soil is rich and well-drained. Its winters are cold and snowy; the springs wet and windy; the summers sunny, hot and dry but the evenings always cool. The fall doesn't arrive till late September or early October. Perfect weather to grow grapes and make wine. And that exactly what the folks in the village have been doing for more than twenty five hundred years.

When I was growing up, almost every household had a vineyard in the scarce but excellent land to the east and north of the village. But that wasn't enough for most families. If there was a small space in the back yard or by the balcony, there would certainly be a climbing vine present there. Whenever possible the this vine would form a canopy that would offer both shade andplenty of grapes to eat. We had one of those vines in our home and I would eagerly watch it in the spring as it was budding and later as the flowers turned into pin-head size grapes. When the grapes began to ripen and turn into a brilliant red color, my mouth would water in anticipation of the day when I could slowly crush them between my teeth and taste their sweetness.

For more on the Wines of Distomo go to my website The Wine Cellar.

The Beginning

I grew up in Distomo, a small farming village in central Greece not far from the oracle of Delphi and the monastery of Osios Loukas–two world-renowned tourist destinations. My village has its own historic bookmarks too. One is its link to the world of pre-historic Greece; the other the slaughtering of 228 villagers by the Germans as World War II neared its end. My childhood memories, though, have nothing to do with either of them. They are about the life in the village–the people, the land in which they toiled, the crops they grew, and the way they lived both in celebration and in mourning.

Historians remind us that the degree to which communities and nations develop depends largely on their geography and climate. Distomo in that respect is blessed. Nestled at more than 400 meters above sea level between mountains, allows the sea breezes and the brisk and cold northwestern winds to traverse the village. The soil is rich but well-drained. The winters are cold and snowy; the springs wet and windy; the summers sunny, hot and dry but the evenings always cool. The fall doesn’t arrive till late September or early October. Perfect weather for growing grapes.

Ancient Greeks believed that ignorance of viticulture was the mark of savages and wine the touchstone of civilization. Since ancient times, the villagers of Distomo grew grapes and made wine. When I was growing up, almost every household had a vineyard in the scarce land that was available near the village. But that wasn’t enough for most families. There were plenty of grapes to eat in late summer and to make wine in the fall. While the quantity was always adequate, the quality was…well, let’s say there was plenty of good quality vinegar. The neighboring villages had neither the quantity nor the quality of our wine and that resulted to trading their local goods for our wine. There were several families that made a living from selling wine to the market.

Viticulture demands hard work. The villagers say that you know nothing about life unless you have planted a vineyard, built a house, or married your daughters–Greeks used to give dowries for their girls. A vineyard, however, will reward you beyond your wildest dreams if you learn to communicate with it and become passionate about it. It is one of the few crops that requires year-round attention and back-breaking work. And when you harvest the grapes and start the wine making process, the magic begins…

It was this magic that captivated me when I was a child as I watched my parents and the other villagers go about their chores, although I have to admit, I understood very little about how wine was made. I was totally fascinated with vineyards, grapes, especially during harvest. I was not particularly fond of wine as a child–as I am sure most children aren’t. It was not till I started living in my village again during the summers, after almost half a century of living abroad, that I fell passionately in love with vineyards and wine. It is this love affair that will be the subject of this blog. Hope you will join me in this journey of love and learning.