Thursday, October 24, 2013

Great Greek Wines

Greece is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world, and the origins of winemaking in Greece go back almost 7000 years. The spread of Greek civilization and their worship of Dionysus, the god of wine, helped to spread the love of wine throughout all Mediterranean areas. Greek wines and their varieties were well known and traded throughout the Mediterranean soon after it was discovered, and Hippocrates even used wine for medicinal purposes and gladly prescribed it to anyone in need of some quick help.

The most reputable wines of ancient Greece were Chian, Coan, Corcyraean, Cretan, Euboean, Lesbian, Leucadian, Mendaean, Peparethan wine, Rhodian and Thasian. In 1937, the Ministry of Agriculture established a Wine Institute, which was established to devote time to researching Greek Wine and to preserving and improving the country's winemaking. During the 1960s, Retsina suddenly became the national beverage. Retsina is a Greek white wine that has a unique flavor and is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo Pine resin in ancient times. With rapidly growing tourism, Retsina became associated worldwide with Greece and Greek wine.


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