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Sweet, Sweet Samos

 

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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 kindly game me a bottle of one of her favorite wines, a sweet Muscat from Samos. I love sweet wines and I’d never had one from the famous Samos so I was very excited.

Samos and EOS Samos

Samos has a long history of winemaking with mentions in texts dating back to the 5th century BC.  Today, most viticulture takes place on the northern slopes of the central Mount Ampelos. Here, the vines are protected from warm southerly winds, and altitudes that reach as high as 900 m above sea level help to temper the warm Mediterranean climate. A considerable difference between day and night time temperatures in these mountain vineyards slows ripening, leading to the development of aroma and character along with acidity.

Founded 1934, EOS Samos is one of the oldest cooperatives in Greece. It’s also one of the largest with 26 members. The cooperative produces a wide range of wines from  Moschato Aspro (aka Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains) in all sweetness levels.

ΕΟΣ Σαμου, 2019

I posted the following on Instagram after I first tried the wine and got a thumbs up from my teacher. Μου αρέσουν πολύ τα γλυκά κρασιά και αυτό το κρασί από τη Σάμο είναι πολύ καλό! Είναι από Μοσχάτο και 15% ΔΑΤ. Μυρίζω ροδάκινο, τροπικά φρούτα, περγαμόντο, και λουλούδι. Έχει λεπτές γεύσεις από άνθη πορτοκαλιού, βερίκοκο, μάνγκο, και αμύγδαλο. If more of our classes could involve wine discussion, I think I’d be doing much better with the language than I am!

As I feel often happens with me, the wine I had is not on the cooperative’s website! As a result, I have few technical details beyond that it is 100% Moschat Aspro (aka Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) with a 15% abv. Aromas of peach, tropical fruits, bergamot, and flowers. Unctuous on the palate but with surprisingly fresh and light flavors of orange blossoms, apricot, mango, and raw almonds.

While I certainly enjoyed this on its own, I did pair several different things with it. One of my favorite pairing combinations is sweet wine with spicy food. I put together a very simple spicy gingery Thai curry and it worked very well.

I also tried it with several cheeses and jams. Manchego with it was fantastic and roasted salted almonds surprised me (but in hindsight shouldn’t have) with how well they paired. A locally produced hard goat cheese with lemon ginger jam also did great things with the wine.