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A Tour of Greek Sparkling Wine

 

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Except for my weird friend, Roy, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t at least like sparkling wine. For me, it’s hands down my favorite wine category. I’m fascinated by the different processes by which it is made, how each creates a different style of wine, and offers different aromas and flavors. You could take the same grape from the same vineyard and make three very different sparkling wines with the traditional, charmat, and ancestral methods.

Little surprise then, that I love exploring sparkling wine anytime I travel. For sure I like Prosecco, Champagne, and Cava…but Greek sparkling wine offers a whole new world of flavors. With the country’s fascinating endemic grapes, young producers, and sense of adventure, the wines (sparkling and otherwise) coming out of Greece now are often quite thrilling. It has become a real favorite and I always try to bring home a bottle or two. Join me on a little tour of Greek sparkling wine!

Vassaltis Vineyards

One of the youngest wineries on the island, Yannis Valambous established Vassaltis Vineyards in 2014. Vassaltis produces a wide range of wines, most of them 100% or at least featuring Assyrtiko. On an island dedicated almost entirely to this one grape, how do you stand out? Valambous believes the answer to that is traditional but sustainable evolution and growing on the roots planted by previous generations. He knows that he receives the benefit of hundreds – even thousands – of years of winemaking history on the island and strongly feels the burden of making sure that wine can still be made there hundreds of years in the future. 

They like to do things differently at Vassaltis. For example, contrary to tradition, they’re putting their Assyrtiko on a trellis. One of their wines is a red that has a small amount of Assyrtiko added. And they make a pét-nat with Savatiano grapes sourced from the mainland. 

Savatiano

Savatiano (sav-vah-tee-ah-no) or, Savvatiano, is one of – if not the! – most maligned grapes in Greece. Why? Because, for years, it was used almost exclusively to make cheap Retsina. And while well-made Retsina can be a delight, the cheap stuff, and the grape behind it, is a shadow from behind which the Greek wine industry has only recently(ish) managed to emerge. Despite its poor reputation, Savatiano can craft excellent still and semi-sparkling wines. Something a handful of producers in Central Greece, have thrown themselves into doing.

Savatiano plantings are concentrated in eastern Central Greece, especially Attica where it takes up some 80% of total grape plantings. The grape is resistant to mildew diseases and performs well in drought conditions. Wines offer flavors ranging from yellow fruit, apples, stone fruit, and flowers with fresh acidity.

Vassaltis Vineyards PetNat

Made in the ancestral method, the Vassaltis Vineyards PetNat is 100% Savatiano. It pours a slightly hazy lemon color with sedate bubbles. 

Fruity and floral, the wine combines lots of lemony notes from lemon blossoms to lemon preserves with white flesh pear and delicate yeasty tones. Refreshing with moderate alcohol (12% ABV), the freshly crushed pear flavors really sing on the palate. 

Ktima Zafeirakis

Newstled in the PGI Tyrnavos area of Thessaly is Ktima Zafeirakis. The Zafeirakis family has practiced viticulture here for more than 100 years. Since 2005, the winery has been in the fourth generation pf Christos Zafeirakis who planted their first organic vineyards.

Today, the winery owns and cultivates more than 12 hectares of vineyards planted with indigenous Greek varieties, like Limniona and Malagousia, and international grapes, like Chardonnay and Syrah. Christos  is considered to be one of Greece’s young, pioneering winemakers and has had a great deal to do with the revival of Limniona. 

Limniona & Assyrtiko

Limniona

Not to be confused with Lemnio, Limniona (limb-nee-oh-nah), is a rising star thanks to people like Christos. Originally from Thessaly, Limniona now appears in a number of places around Greece. It is a late-ripening and drought-resistant variety. While its thick skins provide some protection against oidium, due to the tightly-packed nature of the bunches, it is susceptible to downy mildew and botrytis.

Maturation in oak barrels is common although some producers are also experimenting with other materials like clay. Wines have a vivid purple-red color and are both elegant and powerful with moderate alcohol, bright acidity, juicy tannins, and notes of herbs, flowers, red berries, pepper, and sweet spices.

Assyrtiko

Practically synonymous with Santorini, Assyrtiko (ah-seer-tee-koh) is possibly one of the greatest white grape varieties in the Mediterranean. Its immense popularity has not only resulted in the grape’s spread across Greece (and even outside!) but also greatly contributed to the rise and popularity of Greek wine overall.

Assyrtiko is resistant to most diseases and to drought, especially important on Santorini. The vine’s hardwood contributes to its flexibility helping it to withstand strong winds. Famously, most vineyards on Santorini, especially the old ones, house vines trained in baskets, or kouloura and kladeftiko. This style of training provides further protection from the island’s intense winds while also collecting morning dew, some years the only precipitation the vines get.

It is a versatile grape that takes well to many different winemaking techniques. The classic unoaked and taut style can be tamed by extended lees ageing, while oak ageing rounds out the acidity and adds a creamy complexity. Some producers have also started experimenting with wine aged in vessels such as cement eggs and clay amphora. Skin contact/amber Assyrtiko wines are also on the rise with several remarkable examples coming out of mainland Greece.

Ktima Zafeirakis Prologue Extra Brut, NV

So, why are we talking about a black and a white grape for this sparkling rosé? Because, in a manner found usually only in Champagne, this is a blend of both. In this instance, a 50/50 blend between the two. Made in the traditional method, the wine ages on its lees for around 18-24 months before disgorging. 

While many of Ktima Zafeirakis’s wines fall under the PGI Tyrnavos, the appellation does not allow for sparkling wine.

Excited bubbles danced in the glass, revealing aromas of red fruit and citrus, flowers, and hints of brown sugar and pastry. Dry, with intense acidity, the full soft mousse filled my mouth with flavors of red berries and caramel, leaving behind the pleasant bite of pomelo skin, and perfumed rose finger lime as it dissipated. 

Bosinakis Winery

Bosinakis Winery is a family venture that has been making wine since 1979. While the family works with a number of native and international grapes, including Roditis, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, its main grape is the local Moschofilero. 

Located as it is in Arkadia, part of the PDO Mantinea, the Mantineia Bosniakis is one of Greece’s best examples of a white Moschofilero. Why do I say white Moschofilero? What is it, if not a white wine? Well…

Moschofilero

Native to the Peloponnesian Mantineia Plateau, Moschofilero (mos-koe-fee-leh-roe) is a late-ripening variety. While some old, goblet vines still exist, most plantings are trained on wires and need to be carefully pruned to the grape’s vigor and high production. While resistant to powdery and downy mildew, it is susceptible to botrytis bunch rot. Bunches are medium to large in size, holding the medium-sized round, and thick-skinned pinkish grapes.

Yes! Despite most commonly being made into white wines, Moschofilero is a pink (or grey, as you like) colored grape. Increasingly popular though are also sparkling, rosé, oaked, and sweet wine styles.

An intensely aromatic variety, Moschofilero wines give a heady perfume of rose petals, lemon blossom, citrus, and spice. Wines tend to be crisp and fresh with lower alcohol. While most say wines should be drunk within the first four years after harvest, a few producers will argue that Moschofilero can age as much as 10 years or even more.

Bosinakis Pét-Nat, 2024

Unlike its PDO Mantineia wine, the Bosinakis Pét-Nat is a rosé, quite a pretty salmon color at that too. 

As effusively aromatic as any still Moschofilero, aromas of flowers, mountain strawberries, and bergamot came flooding out of the glass. Delicate bubbles danced in the wine’s medium-body, adding crispness and a sense of freshness to balance the sweet aromas and hint of balsamic on the palate.

Ktima Spiropoulos

In business just a tad longer than Bosinakis, the family behind Ktima Spiropoulos has been making wine in Arkadia (or Arcadia if you will) since 1860. Located in the heart of Arcadia, in the  ‘Polyampelos Mantinia’ at an altitude of 650 meters, Ktima Spiropoulos’s fifth generation has ushered in a modern age for the family’s legacy, modernizing the look of the wines as well as committing to farming organically.

Located in the Mantineia PDO area, Moschofilero makes up the majority of the winery’s plantings. It does, however, also give some space to Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc.

Ktima Spiromoulos Ode Panos, 2023

The winery makes two sparkling Moschofilero wines, a white, and a rosé. Both are made in the charmat (or tank) method and rest on the lees for six months. A friend gifted me with a bottle of the Ktima Spiromoulos Ode Panos, the white version, for Christmas.

Excited bubbles filled the glass of pale lemon-colored wine and filled the air with luscious aromas of roses, white flesh stone fruit, and loquats. Such a full but soft mousse gave the wine a creamy texture. As the foamy bubbles burst, they left behind flavors of rose and lemon blossom, bergamot, and white peaches. 

Interested in learning more about Greek wines? Don’t forget to check out my new book, The Quick and Dirty Guide to Greek Wine and all my Greek grape infographic bundles!