Have you ever had a bottle of wine that you know you should be drinking but you never seem to be in the right mood for it? You don't not want to drink it. But you just never grab it. For me, that's been the Do-Re-Mi Ojaleshi. I finally managed to open it. I bought this in Georgia
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For this month's Wine Paired Weekend event, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm, has invited us to explore new to us wines and grapes. My new to me grape, the Greek variety, Asproudi. Every time I go to Greece, I try to hunt down new to me grapes. I love me some Assyrtiko and Malagousia. But you can't spend your whole life drinking just two grapes! And I've barely scratched the surface of what Greece has to offer. Sometimes I pre-order wines and have them delivered to my friends. But I love to browse in shops. One of my favorites is Alfa Sigma Wine in Syntagma
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What's that saying about nothing good happens after midnight? While often associated with crime/thriller stories (one assumes because only criminals are out and about after midnight); it's become a pretty common warning. However, I think we all know that the sun's position in the sky has little do with crime. But it DOES have a lot to do with the quality of grapes when harvested and the kind of wine ultimately produced. Nyxteri (also spelled nykteri) comes from the Greek word for night: νύχτα. It is a style of wine on Santorini. Traditionally harvested at night (thus the name), although it is not a requirement and some producers do
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I first learned about Chatzivaritis Estate from one of Moshe Cohen's In the Vineyard With podcast episodes, A Greek Wine Odyssey. It sounded like the winery did some pretty cool things so I made a note to track down some wine on my next trip to Athens. Happily, shopping for wine online in Greece is very easy. I hopped on my favorite website, Greece and Grapes, which had several bottles from Chatzivaritis Estate. I was particularly interested in the Pét-Nat. The blanc de noirs never seems to be in stock (very sad) but I snagged the rosé! Κτήμα Χατζηβαρύτη / Chatzivaritis Estate Chatzivaritis Estate, founded by Vagelis Chatzivaritis and his wife Olga
Read MoreA few months ago I finally got a chance to go back to Michigan. I want to say it's been about four years since I've been back. Eek. My trip started out a little rocky when I got to my parents to discover that the bottle of pomegranate syrup I'd brought had shattered in one of my suitcases. I've never lot a bottle of wine in transit (knock on wood) but apparently I have no luck with thick, sticky, red syrup. Before I even went into the house I had to unpack my suitcase in the garage then take the case and hose to to front lawn and clean
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Nothing can stop my love for Assyrtiko. Much as I love exploring other and new grapes in Greece, I always buy a couple few Assyrtikos when I'm there. Not usually the same wines though. I like to look for producers I haven't tried before. On my last trip to Athens, the colorful Dougos Winery Meth'Imon Acacia label caught my eye. Dougos Winery Located in Thessaly at the foot of Mount Olympus, Dougos Winery was founded in 1991 by the Dougos family. Still a young winery, it's already in the hands of the second generation with son Thanos as the agriculturalist and daughter Louiza, the chemist and oenologist. The Dougos family vineyards
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I go to Greece fairly often. It is just kind of next door and two of my best friends live in Athens. Partially for that reason, for almost two years now, I have been taking a once weekly Greek class. I have not learned that much, lazy student as I am. But I'm not learning Greek because I go to Greece frequently. Let's be honest, they all speak English ever so much better than I will every speak Greek. I'm learning the language though, because I like to learn the language of wine countries I love. And I loves me some Greek wine. Knowing this, my Greek teacher very
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I recently came back from a trip to Crete. My first time on the island, in fact my first time in ages outside of Athens. I met E&M there for M's 40th birthday. But bonus! I also got to meet up with my awesome friend Anna Maria of Unraveling Wine and Chania Wine Tours! We spent the week there in what, apparently, was some of the worst weather they've had in years. Pouring buckets of rain, what felt like gale force winds, and a 5.8 earthquake. We got rained out of several activities and/or things were closed for the season. But, a few nice moments with blue skies allowed
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This year, I get the honor of kicking of the #WinePW 2022 calendar with a celebration of bubbles from around the world! For this month's theme, it does not matter if your bubbles are traditional method, tank method, or otherwise. If it fizzes it's fair game! Stick to a classic like Champagne, Franciacorta, Prosecco, or Cava
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I was so excited when the #WinePW 2021 calendar came out and Deanna from Wineivore suggested a Greek wine theme. You can view her initiation for this month's event here. If you can, join us on Twitter on Saturday, December 11 at 8am PT/11am ET and follow the #WinePW hashtag to join our discussion! Next to Turkish wine, I probably know Greek wine the best (which is NOT to say I'm at all an expert!). Yes we're neighbors and we share a few grapes but we don't get a lot of Greek wine in Turkey. However, two of my best friends live in Athens and regular visits over the
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