The earliest evidence of Greek wine has been dated to 6500 years ago when wine was produced on a household or communal basis. Trade developed around the Mediterranean and in later years Greek wine was sought after in the greater Roman Empire. It’s safe to say Greece is one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world. Yet, in South Africa we don’t see a lot of wine from this beautiful country and we certainly don’t know enough about the cultivars planted and vinified there.

Retsina became popular in the 60’s and sadly for a long time Greek wine was only associated with this pine resin flavoured wine. A wine institute was established in Greece in 1937 already and appellation laws were introduced in the early 70’s. There are so many varieties that we don’t know, let alone try and pronounce correctly. In the last decade or so, much attention has been given to some of these varieties and their suitability to our warm South African climate. Assyrtiko is now commercially bottled by 3 producers and there’s more to come, so some of these varieties won’t be too foreign for much longer. Let’s get on board and educate ourselves.

Anton Pispeki is importing a variety of wines from Gofsis, Kakoulidis and Lafazanis. Join us as we explore and learn more about Greek wine and wrap our heads around a few “new” varieties.

The tasting includes light snacks on arrival and tasting of 11 wines.
Please be seated by 6pm for tutored tasting to commence.