Warm Wines for Cooler Times
Rightly famous for the perfect Summer wines, Greece’s cellar can also cater for the cooler evenings and heartier meals.
Autumn is the time to let some of the more full bodied and flavourful wines back into your life alongside some powerful dishes to compliment them (some would say it’s the other way round but I can’t be responsible for everyone’s wrongheadedness). I find that I naturally avoid heavier reds and the rich and complex sweeter wines while the sun is blazing and opening them again in Autumn is one of the great pleasures of the season. Here are a couple of wines to open when the sun goes down and the glass goes up. Power to your elbow.
Estate Papaioannou, Nemea Old Vines, 2015 – Agiorgitiko
Thanansis Papioannou is a towering figure in modern Greek wine making, an early champion of indigenous varieties and organic viticulture. His son has taken up the baton and continues to make some of the best expressions of Agiorgitiko in its natural heartland of Nemea. This wine is a great example of their approach. A rich and satisfying yet well structured wine with loads of ripe plum, forest fruits and spice, it is the perfect match for hearty, meaty Autumnal stews and slow roasts. While the contents of a bottle is the most important thing, it doesn’t hurt to have a nice container and Estate Papaioannou’s distinctive labels with their heraldic twinned lions always brings a smile to my face. The Nemean Lions on the label give a sense of timelessness and adherence to tradition. Who needs hair of the dog when you can have coat of the lion.
Biblia Chora, Sole, 2018 – Semillon, Gewürztraminer
This was a new discovery for me, presented at the end of an excellent meal at Ateno by their thoughtful sommelier, Simeon Keskinidis. This is a refined and well structured sweet wine from the excellent Biblia Chora. Made from late harvested grapes, some of which have the magic of noble rot, the alchemical fungus that conjures electrifying sweetness from the right conditions. Both grapes are both fun to say for different reasons, the wine is dominated by the Bordeaux sweet wine staple, Semillon, with a small portion of collaborative Gewürztraminer for a floral note.
The wine has excellent structure with pleasing sweetness and refreshing acidity. The satisfyingly long finish will will keep you appreciatively sipping well past the dessert plates have been taken away, if you can restrain yourself. With exotic fruits, mandarins, marmalade and a little touch of buttery brioche, this is a wine to savour and works before, during or after a meal. Or for that matter with marmalade and toast for breakfast. Delicious on its own, or with pate, cheese or a fruit based dessert.
