Driven to Drink

Many years ago, when I first started getting involved professionally in the wine trade, my maternal grandmother warned me that my family on my father's side had a certain proclivity to drink (to put it mildly), that I should beware and approach wine with caution. She, being a non-drinker and very correct in her behaviour, strictly disapproved of the drinking habits of my paternal grandfather and his brother, who were well-known revelers-about-town.

She need not have worried. Much as I love wine and all it brings to life - indeed, I could not imagine my life without it - I have never become reliant on it for support and it remains a source of curiosity and boundless pleasure. My meals are always enhanced by the right wines, my tastebuds are stimulated and my critical faculties strive to understand, analyse and appreciate what I have in my glass; it is never about the alcohol. So, it is with great pleasure that I can present to you, my reader, a few little things that I had the pleasure and honour to try recently.

My good friend M. decided to treat me to lunch (to celebrate the promotion of one of her sons) at the trendy Athens restaurant Cookoovaya, which lays claim to wise cuisine. Our visit was less than conclusive on the 'wisdom of the cuisine' part, as some of the dishes were better than others and one was actually disappointing, but the atmosphere and the service were just fine, as was their house olive oil. the wine we had - chosen by modest old me, natch! - was superb, though and not as aggressively priced as elsewhere: Papagiannakos  Estate old vine Savvatiano 2016, a white grape variety from the vineyards of Attica more traditionally found in Retsina. Unresinated and from a serious producer like Papagiannakos it produces a very classy, concentrated, complex wine with subtle notes of ripe white fruit, balancing acidity and a very long finish. Both the estate and Savvatiano are stars in the making for the international stage, as they offer a superb product that can be matched to different foods, but would drink beautifully on its own as well. Overall, and with lots of nice wine inside me,  I was well pleased, especially as I did not need to concern myself with the bill.

A few days later I attended a dinner hosted by the Greek Academy of Gastronomy and its core group, the Friends of Dionysos, where I am a member, though mostly absent these days. I was extremely fortunate in attending this specific event, as the wines  accompanying the food were rare and exceptional, stunning examples of the best of Greek wine, real world-class stuff. The first wine was from the late and much-missed Haridimos Hatzidakis, the wizard of wine making in Santorini and was a masterpiece: Cuvee no.15 from 2011, made from organic Assyrtiko grapes without any barrel-ageing. The light golden colour hinted at its age and the wine's nose was ripe, full of complex citrus fruits, slightly bittersweet, metallic and earthly notes. The palate reflected this and was even more impressive, with varying waves of taste sensation rolling across the tongue kept fresh by good acidity, and staying there almost indefinitely - wow! Good with food of many different types including, of course, fish and seafood, this on its own would be a meal in itself, a real treat that would do me.

The second wine, also from Santorini, was made by the local red grape variety Mavrotragano (literally black and crunchy), recently salvaged from extinction by Pari Sigalas of Domaine Sigalas only a few short years ago. I must admit that previous encounters with this particular wine had been underwhelming, when I found it unbalanced, with hard tannins and little charm. But what a difference a few years make in the wine world - this example from, I am told, a good vintage on Santorini (2013), was ripe and luscious. The deep red, almost black, colour prefaced a rich nose of ripe red berry fruit, good tannins and the minerality of the terroir (flint?) in the background. The wine was equally attractive on the palate with layers of cherry/sour cherry, damson and blackberry fruit, with a balanced tannic backbone and the earthiness completing an impressive picture. After that, he long aftertaste was only to be expected - and it was there! The Sigalas Mavrotragano 2013 changed my view on the species, it was so impressive.

And I even got to present the eau de vie, a superb Poire Williams from those newcomers to wine (founded 1639) Hugel of Riquewihr, Alsace - so clean, aromatic, just perfect! Oh, and the food that night was pretty good, too...