The basic Myth relevant to wine making, reports that Dionysus, god of wine in ancient Greece, teach the Athenians how to grow, collect and product wine of grapes. The Athenians improved and export the wine making through their colonies to the rest of the ancient world. Apart from giving birth to Dionysus, Greece is the birthplace of the first VQPRD wines in history. The superior quality wines of the islands of Chios and Thassos, renowned in the entire ancient world. Due to various historic and social reasons, as well as natural disasters, the art of wine-making was neglected from the middle of the nineteenth century until the early sixties. It was then that the ancient Greek tradition of wine-making started being rediscovered. Today many excellent Greek wines are produced all over the country. When tasting Greek wine, bear in mind that it is a product of a distinctive environment and of grape varieties unknown to western wine lovers.
The Greek wines are divided into 4 distinct categories:
1)The Controlled Appellations of Origin: contains only liqueur wines, such as the Mavrodaphne of Kefaloniá and Patrás, the Muscat wines of Patras, Limnos, Kefalonia, Rhodes and the Doux of Samos.
2) The Appellations of Origin of Superior Quality category: contains many of the best Greek wines. There are 20 areas in Greece so far that have the right to that category.
In northern Greece: the Appellations of Zitsa, Amynteo, Gouménissa and Náoussa, in Chalkidiki the Appellation of Playies Melitona,
In Thessaly: Anchialos and Rapsani,
At Athens Kantza,
In the Peloponnese: Patra, Mantinia and Nemea,
On the Ionian islands: the Robola of Cefalonia,
On the Aegean Islands: Paros, Limnos, Rhodes and Santorini,
Crete: the appellations of Acharnes, Peza, Sitia and Daphnes.
3) Local wines whose fragrances and tastes seem to interweave with their land and atmosphere in ways you can only imagine until you leave the city behind.
4) Table wines many pleasant and intoxicating surprises for the wine lover
