Great food, great wines, expertly paired!

I wish I could take credit for all the wonderful wines I have beed lucky enough to drink and all the lovely food I have been fortunate enough to eat; alas, most of the time somebody else has either been guiding me, or has invited me to stuff my face with delights that they had prepared for my appreciation. Still, I've done well.

And one night three weeks ago I was 'forced' by the friends of Dionysos to attend a dinner at a special little Athens, Greece restaurant called CTC, which is a clever play on the greek word for nourishment. Only a few years ago and in the middle of the worst economic crisis that Greece has seen for many a year, a young chef called Alexandros Tsiotinis decided, having trained alongside some of the giants of world gastronomy, to open his own seriously ambitious restaurant - CTC urban gastronomy was born.

Young Mr. Tsiotinis is not playing at this and has learned well, with his food being innovative and exciting, making us think but giving pleasure at the same time. Amazingly detailed presentation, spectacular textures and small but intense portions were the name of the day on 22.10.19, with tastes that were subtle and at the same time strong, complex enough to knock your socks off. Every course was different - even the bread was unusual - with most being spectacularly successful, and one perhaps less so, but they all showed individuality, good technique and an abundance of passion, that most important of cooking ingredients. CTC is a very special place that engages the mind as well as the stomach, not perhaps cheap but worth every penny, a treat for any food lover as and when they can.

The Friends of Dionysos, that busy little band of wine fanatics that I am fortunate to be a part of, put forward some stunning wines to accompany the food, starting with a cracking white from Savoie, Un Matin Face au Lac 2016, Les Vignes du Paradis. Minerally yet floral, sweet on the finish with lychee and ripe pear overtones on the palate, complex and long, this was a stunning wine to start with and accompany the first two courses, a cream of lobster infused with bergamot and corn, and cod with a burnt leek mousse. Both courses were produced with a delicacy of touch often lacking in Greece, both were very well executed in taste and texture, just yummy!

The rose that followed was a big, big wine from 2017 that was closer to a red than a rose from the Tatsis winery in the north of Greece, and a grape variety called Negoska. This is not your light, summery, wispy light pink stuff, this is a bone dry heavyweight, almost a light red with a hint of tannin, good deep rose colour and plenty of taste. Reminding me of some of the old-fashioned, delectable rose wines from the South of France of years gone by, before angels started whispering, it was able to stand up to and accompany properly the 'paella' of potato with calamari and octopus, all infused with hints of chorizo.

Chateau Carras is a wine created entirely from scratch as a whim of John C. Carras, Greek shipowner extraordinaire and visionary, who in the 1960s fell in love with and bought a large plot of land in Sithonia, the middle of the three Halkidiki peninsulas, in order to create a world-beating tourist complex. At the same time he wanted to create new vineyards in order to make a greek wine that could compete with the best in Europe, which for him meant the wines of Bordeaux; amazingly he did just that, with the help of experts, a lot of money and patience. Porto Carras was the overall property, including hotels, marinas, bungalows, with Chateau Carras its flagship wine.

A Bordeaux blend with a touch of the greek variety Limnio as a filler, the Carras wine soon established itself as a wine of class and quality. At CTC we were able to show the 1997, all big red fruit, spices, balance and finesse, still young and drinking supremely well, long and impressive, matched if nor exceeded by the bigger, chunkier 1990, still vigorous, tannins lurking, ripe fruits. Two superb reds to partner our main course of beef with hazelnut, black garlic and jerusalem artichoke (topinambour) puree.

The CTC crew surpassed themselves with the dessert, made to look like a miniature handbag, full of chocolatey and red fruit tastes, and textures that varied from the chewy to the crunchy. To accompany this an ethereal eau-de-vie was served, made from wild rasberries by Gilbert Miclos in Alsace, clean, delicate and strong at the same time, just superb and eminently gluggable.

The Friends of Dionysos have staged many extraordinary dinners, with this being one of the best. And CTC, with its artistry and passion, is carving a niche for itself in the inhospitable scene that is Athenian High Gastronomy. I'm just grateful to have been a part of a delightful evening, to have presented the Chateau Carras wines, to have broken bread with fellow Friends of Dionysos, to have enjoyed the fruits of Greek passion in CTC and Chateau Carras, to deeply appreciate and love food and wine, making my life immeasurably richer.