It is only in recent years that Greece has started to appreciate its natural abundance. It is not only recognizing its market value but also its potential to provide unique and rich experiences of a very high standard. Food and beverage produce is the area in which this shift has been most noticeable.
What one would loosely define as gourmet lacked the necessary refinement to be considered so in Greece.
Wine, for example, has been an important part of Greek culture for over 4000 years as the numerous archeological discoveries throughout Greece have revealed. Evidence from numerous shipwrecks tells us that Greek wine was traded throughout the known ancient world.
Even today many people in places such as Corfu Island drink wine on a daily basis made from their village vineyards.
Despite this long and rich history Greek wine never quite made it to the top of the Michelin guide or any other such eclectic menu guides for that matter. Tiffany’s 2014 Wine of the year selection, however, could be a sign that Greek wine is on the way up.
Tiffany’s Wine & Spirit Shoppe co-owner Saad Mandwee traveled to Greece to pick the Tiffany’s 2014 Wine of the Year the 2008 Tsantali Family Rapsani “Grande Reserve.”
Choosing a wine of the year, is not just about finding a great wine but about finding a wine with a story to tell says Mandwee. He was drawn to the idea of featuring a Greek wine this year because people come in and say, “I never even think of Greek wine,” he said.
For a country that has been serving wine for sacred purposes for so long it is high time this changed.
Corfu Island alone has at least four local varieties of grape and it is not even a traditional wine making area of Greece. Cultivated on the island are the white Petrokoritho, Moschato Aspro, Robola and Kozanitis and the red Kakotrygis and Mavrodafni.
S&O Luxury Villas will feature a Greek wine regularly on www.sando.villas not only of Corfu Island but of other parts of Greece too as an attempt to acknowledge and appreciate our heritage.