BOTTLE STOP

Just when you were tucking back your tongue into your gums, having mastered (or not) the pronunciation of tricky French, Italian and Spanish grape varieties such as mourvedre or viognier, along come the Greeks.

Try these for a little mouth action: assyrtiko, malagousia, agiorgitiko or xinomavro.

We may soon be seeing more of these in Australia, as leading Greek producers start to target restaurants and retailers here – all to the good.

First, let’s get the pronunciation business out of the way. Ask a Greek friend, or your Greek restaurant owner, what’s what. There is no other way. They are a drama, to say the least. But behind the complicated varietal names is a fabulous centuries-old story of wine-making across the country, from up north, inland of Thessalonika, down into the popular Mediterranean islands including Santorini, Rhodes and Samos, and taking in Crete as well.

While Greece is not a major player in world wine terms, it deserves to be better regarded. Greek wines tend to be light to mediumbodied, have acceptable alcohol levels, and suit being drunk with rustic food, says Greek Master of Wine Yiannis Karakasis, who recently showcased a great range of Greek wines in Australia.

“In an ocean of syrah (shiraz) and cabernet, we have something else, we have assyrtiko (a white variety) and xinomavro (red), and many others,” Karakasis says.

In fact, there are more than 220 indigenous varieties in Greece, more than 70 of them with commercial interest.

Adelaide restaurateur George Kasimatis, of Georges on Waymouth, is a huge supporter of the wines from his parents’ homeland and finds they are extremely food-friendly.

“I love that these wines can come from nowhere else but Greece and that they are fresh with natural acidity, which makes them great with food,” he says.