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European Wines

HomeEuropean Wines (Page 8)

  This March at Oenorama in Athens, my friend Anna Maria of Unravelling Wine and Chania Wine Tours introduced me to the best Vidiano not from Crete. And coming from Crete, she would know. I've had a few Vidiano wines in the past. They've been nice but never done much of anything for me. But I will willingly go where Anna Maria leads so I followed her to the Oenops Wines table where I tasted the best Vidiano not from Crete. Oenops Wines Nikos Karatzas founded Oenops Wines in 2015. While his winery sits in Drama in the eastern part of Macedonia, his grapes come from everywhere. Karatzas tours Greece looking

  Now in its 17th year (or rather having just completed its 17th year), Radici del Sud turns the spotlight on wines from indigenous vines and oils from Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Sicily, Abruzzo, Molise, and Sardegna. Radici del Sud Aside from probably Sicily and even Puglia itself, wines from southern Italy get less attention than those from central and northern Italy. The south has long served as a bulk wine producer for not only Italy but other areas in Europe. However, over the last few decades, producers have shifted from bulk into quality production. As Katarina said in her recent piece, How Radici del Sud Highlights the Potential of Southern Italian Wines,

  Day 2 for the Radici del Sud press tour dawned early after a late night return from Giovanni Aiello. We woke up to remnants of rain from the evening before which pushed back our departure time for our morning winery tour. Only one winery appeared on our schedule for today, but one is enough when we're learning about Primitivo from Fatalone. Fatalone and Primitivo If Primitivo is king in Puglia, Fatalone is the power behind the throne. This small, historic, family winery got its start when Petrera Nicola built his winery in Gioia del Colle. He chose to plant on a hill called Spinomarino, known for its lofty, well-aired, and

  Let me begin with post with a small freak out about OMG MY FIRST PRESS TOUR/JUDGING! Thanks to Katarina at Grapevine Adventures, I was asked last year to join the journalist contingent at Radici del Sud. However, due to Italy's travel restrictions at the time, I was unable to do so in the end. Happily, the founder Nicola Campanile kept my name and invited me back this year. [caption id="attachment_17721" align="alignleft" width="351"] botti at Cantine Rivera[/caption] I felt beyond thrilled and honored to be part of this. Not only was this my entrée to the world of wine judging, but I would be doing so alongside the likes of people I have

  Last year on a visit to Athens, the owner of one of my favorite wine shops (Alpha Sigma) helped me pick out a few wines with unusual grapes. Now, I love me some Assyrtiko. Love. So, to combine that with my interest in less usual Greek grapes, he recommended the Domaine Mega Spileo Assyrtiko Lagorthi. [caption id="attachment_17701" align="alignleft" width="349"] How much do I love this back label?![/caption] Of course I jumped at this. Peloponnese Assyrtiko doesn't usually do it for me but I had to have this wine for the Lagorthi. I got it home, made myself a pork gyro since I can now bring home the frozen meat, and

  This month to celebrate spring and Easter, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, has invited the #Wineophiles group to share spring recipes and French Easter traditions. Rather than highlight a specific grape or region in France, she left the field wide open for us to feature any wine we wanted. Join us on Twitter on Saturday, April 16 at 11 am EST / 8 am PST! Just follow the #wineophiles tag to join our discussion, whether or not you wrote a post for it! French-ish Easter Traditions I did a fair amount of Googling about French Easter tradition. In the Alsace where logical Germanic culture has some sway, the Easter Bunny

  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

  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

  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