Homecoming...

I am home again. After weeks of great anticipation and days of uncertainty and frustration with air travel, we arrived in our home in Distomo. It was a beautiful spring day as if nature was rewarding me for being faithful to my annual ritual. Everything was clean, fresh and green as a result of a rather mild and very wet winter. The tulips and crocuses were showing off their bright red, yellow and pink petals. The almond and apricot trees had shed their flowers already--which I regret every year for missing their spectacular display of white and pink flowers. The fig and cherry trees were brave enough to permit some buds to appear on their otherwise bare branches. But what caught my immediate attention were the first buds on the vineyards. You see, this is the event that I have been dreaming about for the past three months. This is the very first step in the long process of grape growing. I will be watching closely every phase of their growth in the next five months.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you...In the morning after our arrival, I went to the wine cellar to say hello to my wines. I felt my heart pounding as I opened the heavy wooden door. In the dimly lit room I walked along its perimeter and surveyed the bottles nestled in their wooden racks. Then, I went to check the temperature and humidity recorded on a gadget resting on one of the racks. It showed that the temperature had fluctuated between 56 and 56.7 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was almost constant at 75 %--not bad for a wine cellar...I was relieved that all was well with my precious friends. We have a lot to look forward to during the summer...

Wine Tours: Nemea

Overshadowed by French and other European wines, Greek wines are finally receiving attention and respect. There are excellent wine tours in Greece and there is no better way to learn about some of Greece's finest wines than to visit the famous wineries of Nemea in the peninsula of Peloponnese in southern Greece. Not only it has excellent wines, it's one of the premier travel destinations rich in history, culture and natural beauty.

Wine Ageing...

Enhance your Wine: Age it

While I had found a proper place for the wines, I was becoming acutely aware of how little I knew about them and decided to learn more. One of the new things I learned was that in addition to preservation, there is wine ageing too. You see, wines do age just like all living things. And this ageing produces all kinds of secondary flavors that enhance the taste of wine and make the wine lose its bite. Actually it was a bit embarrassing to find out that the ancient Greeks were much more aware of the importance of wine ageing than I was. “Given the vagaries of vinification, much Greek wine will not have lasted long, succumbing either to oxidation…or to spoilage due to inadequate storage, the risk of which was noted by Aristotle”. (The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson). Old wine was highly regarded by the Greeks so the process of ageing wines has been practiced since antiquity. Even the comic poets of ancient Greece had noted that men preferred old wine but young women… I wasn't about to break this practice.

Which wines you should age

Not all wines are created equal and not all wines improve with age. A good young wine aged properly will very probably become an even better one when it matures. A mediocre wine not only will not improve with age, it will almost certainly decline after several years. And then, there are wines--the vast majority of wines available in the market today--that are meant to be drank young. So, which wines do we choose to age? Well, before we can answer that question, we should understand a little more about what happens during the ageing process--of wines of course...

The Wines of Greece...

Wine isn't just what you find in a bottle and pour in a glass. With its complex flavors and aromas, it's also about the soil the vines grow on, the people who tend them, the culture and traditions of the folks who live in the villages nearby. There is a whole new world out there that is embracing the vineyards and wine makers that is awaiting for the rest of us to discover. There are countless wine destinations in Greece. Each one waiting to welcome you to an unforgettable experience. This video is but one of these destinations.

The Wines of Distomo--Part 4...

The Distomites (the people of Distomo) are an interesting lot. Equipped with sharp intellect and wit, they are passionate about politics, sports, food and, yes, wine. Also, they are fiercely independent, opinionated and often rigid and stubborn. They work hard and their family and friends are highly valued and strongly supported. And, yes, they are very competitive. These group traits are well-suited for wine making, with one exception: the stubbornness part. While the folks in Distomo are very good in choosing good grape varieties and taking care of their vineyards, they somehow fall short in their wine making and wine preservation practices. It is not difficult to understand why my parents' and grandparents' generations drew wine directly from the barrel for their daily consumption. Glass bottles, corks and wine bottling equipment were most likely unheard of and most definitely unavailable and unaffordable. Also, storage space was scarce and not very suitable for bottle storing. The absence of proper storage and ageing of wine resulted into a couple more bad practices. The supply of wine was limited to the first six or seven months of the year, mainly because it would turn into vinegar by fall. My village, by the way, was never short of vinegar! So the opening of the barrel and tasting of the new vintage was a highly anticipated event and occurred usually around the Christmas holidays. The problem with this was that by then the wine was barely three months old. Hardly sufficient time for the wine to be ready for drinking. Moreover, since the village folks had determined that their wine did not last very long, they fortified it with all kinds of preservatives which in addition to the health risks, they completely ruined the taste and smell of wine.

Unfortunately, this practice, although significantly curtailed today, continues to plague wine making in Distomo and it has become one of my personal causes for change. And the best way I know how to affect change is to lead by example. But before I unveil my strategy of "change", let's be clear about something. I don't own a vineyard, never worked on one, and my knowledge of viticulture is, at best, slightly above average. I know a little more about wines, and how to preserve them and age them. The village folks, however, are very good in growing grapes, harvesting them and basically placing the must into the barrels. In fact, up to that point they can go up against the best. It is downhill from there. This incomplete cycle had me preoccupied for quite some time. Until I realized that their skills and knowledge were complementary with my own. The path to "wholeness" was suddenly clear. I would learn from them and would share my knowledge and expertise with them. But this could not be done in a mass scale. I wasn't planning to give seminars and conduct workshops on bottling and ageing wine and building wine cellars. Neither I could go out to the vineyards and ask the town's people to teach me grape growing. It had to be done on a very small scale and a carefully selected target from the new generation of winegrowers and winemakers.

Enter the new era of Greek wine (music) part1...

Join me in discovering the hidden treasures of Greek wines. Although this video is by a wine producer, my goal is to highlight the new era of wine making in Greece and the potential it presents to the development of wine tourism.

How to store and preserve your wines...

Storing wine in certain conditions will affect the way the wine ages, and depending on the length of storage time, it can improve it or ruin it. The key factors in storage are temperature, light and humidity. While warmer conditions accelerate the maturation--ageing--process, colder temperatures slow it down. Removing the solids from a young wine by heavy filtration also accelerates its ageing. If you buy wine more than a bottle or two at a time, you need to think of a proper place to store them. While having your wine close to your kitchen or dining room might be convenient, it's not really the best place for them, even if you have a wine rack. There are exposed to light and there are high and fluctuating temperatures in the vicinity of the kitchen. A closet in a northern exposure room--usually your coolest place in the house--might be a better alternative. That's, of course, assuming you don't have a basement. And always, even for short time, store the bottles horizontally and make sure the cork is wet, so that it doesn't dry out and allow in oxygen--yes, wines breath... Another problem with storing wine in the vicinity of the kitchen is the presence of strong smells, depending, of course, on the type of cooking you do. We love smells, especially of ethnic foods, but wines don't. Treat them with respect.

In my case, a wine rack built under the stairs of our house in Indiana as I was starting my wine collection served me well until I moved to Arizona where there are no basements and no cool places to store wine. Moreover, the number of wines had increased along with the commitment to preserve them as well as possible. I had to find something suitable and quickly. I was able to locate the supplier of EuroCave, self-contained wine cellars that recreate the natural cooling environment of a château wine cellar. I was thrilled with this discovery, as was not aware that such things existed, and rushed to buy one of their units that could hold about 250 bottles. It was like Christmas when the unit arrived! Finally the wines had their first proper home.

This Week's Wine Review...

2003 Chateau Souverain, Chardonnay

Rated 92 points by The Wine Cellar

March 5, 2010: In 2005 I bought a case of 2003 Chardonnay form Chateau Souverain, Sonoma County. I have tasted the wine before and was impressed with its complex character. It wasn't however till recently when I tasted it again that my opinion of it improved considerably. The wine has matured very well and it could very well be at its peak.

Winemaker Ed Killian has chosen grapes from three Sonoma County wine growing regions to create this multi-layered Chardonnay. Russian River Valley was chosen for its honeysuckle floral aromas and tropical fruit flavors; Alexander Valley for pear and peach flavors; and Carneros for its ripe-apple and lemon-citrus. French barrels gave it a toasty oak flavor.

This Chardonnay lived every bit up to the description of its winemaker. Brilliant, full-bodied, balanced, complex, concentrated, and with a subtle oak flavor it's an outstanding wine. I paid about $15/bottle in 2005 and that places it in the upper range of the wines that are in most peoples' budget--including mine. There are many wines as good in this price category but with a rating of 92 points, The Wine Cellar recommends that it is added to the inventory of even a modest cellar.

Spring and Easter...

Spring and Easter are intrinsically linked with Greek countryside and villages. There aren't many things in the Greek psyche that combine nature, religious devotion, tradition, family, food and--yes--wine. And the best setting for this unparalleled national celebration are the myriad picturesque villages throughout Greece--mine included. Every year I can't wait to see the colorful tapestry of wild flowers, smell the scent of the fresh earth at down, and watch the rays of the rising sun pierce through the low-hanging fog over the vineyards and the glistening droplets of water gliding on the needles of the cypress trees. This vivid recollection of the powerful sensual experiences during the first days of my return back to the village in the spring is what keeps me connected with all that's very dear to me and pulls me back like a magnet every spring.

During Easter, the crown jewel of Greek holidays, a mass exodus ensues from just about every city in Greece to the countryside, specifically small traditional villages. The main attraction, of course, is to visit with family and friends and feast in the traditional roasted lamb, and superb pitas, feta cheese, yogurt and wines that are locally grown. But if you don't have family in Distomo, you always have a lot of friends that are always happy to see you come. The village is regaining its old character, that of a vacationing spot for inner city Greeks and is experiencing an influx of Athenians who are becoming regular visitors on a year-round basis. A few have bought land where they plan to plant vineyards and build a vacation home. Others, visit the village on a regular basis to escape the hectic life of the cities and enjoy its clean air and relaxed lifestyle.

Lodging is still challenging especially during the high demand seasons of Easter, June 10 and mid-August. It is recommended to book in advance during these periods to ensure comfortable accommodations. There are a few facilities being added and old ones renovated. One new lodging facility worth mentioning is The Ancient Wall (Το Αρχαιο Τειχος) built on a segment of the prehistoric wall of the town's citadel. It's an excellent facility where many of our friends have stayed. This site will monitor the develpment of additional lodging accommodations and report on them from time to time here and elsewhere in this site. Additionally, you can find more information about hotels and restaurants in the official website of the town (Distomo).

Starting the summer of 2010 The Wine Cellar will organize wine tasting events. There will be open to a small number of visitors because of limited space. The events will be announced in advance and will be available on those only with confirmed reservations. Only locally grown wines will be featured. So stay tuned for more on this...

The Wines of Distomo--Part 3

Wine making was a practice in Greece since perhaps 2000 BC. Also the importance of age

ing wine was understood and old wine was both valued and praised. A pre-Christian winery with clay storage jars discovered in 2007 in the northeast of the village (locality known as Βερβά that is considered as one of the best areas for growing grapes in the village because of its cool breezes and springs) can be seen in the two photos below. So, obviously there was considerable wine making activity in the area to warrant the operation of a commercial winery.

A prolonged battle for independence after almost 400 years of Ottoman occupation, two World Wars and a disastrous civil war didn't allow Greece to develop its wine industry. The wine making practices in the first half of the twentieth century were perhaps inferior even to those of ancient times. The country was preoccupied with more important things. It's not surprising then that the wine available prior to the 1960s was cheap and often poorly made, suitable only for local consumption and sold from the barrel. Although there have been huge improvements in all aspects of the wine industry since the 1980s, some old habits are hard to break. One of them is t

hat in local markets, such as my village, the bulk of the wine continues to be sold directly from the barrel and often in plastic 5-litter containers--something that could make even liberal oenophiles grinch. Now, you could transport wine in plastic jugs provided the wine is drunk the same day. More serious problem though is opening a barrel and drawing wine for weeks or even months depending on the size of the barrel. The minute the barrel is open and air enters its interior, the oxidation of the wine begins and it leads to its inevitable deterioration. It is heart breaking to taste fine wines in April and then experience their gradual decline. By early August they are not suitable to drink any longer. Oxygen and warmer temperatures have done their damage. It is interesting to note that this particular poor practice in winemaking was one of the key motivations that lead me to build a wine cellar and begin bottling wine in Distomo. (Visit Wine Preservation for more about how to properly store and age your wine)