When in Athens ….

Spending nearly a week in Athens gave me a great opportunity to explore Greek wines.  My first stop was Cava Anthidis, an upmarket fine wine bar and shop in Kolonaki.  We were served two red wines and each of us preferred different wines.

 Gaia Estate 2021

100% Agiorgitiko from Nemea.  The first sip of this wine gave me sour cherry, black cherry, cranberry and thyme flavours.  I then got notes of mushroom and autumn leaf.  This wine was very light bodied, belying the flavour intensity, and was incredibly smooth and well balanced.  It reminded me of an excellent Pinot Noir and it has put me on the path of seeking out this grape variety.

The wine would pair well with lamb, venison and carroway.

Rating: Bloody Delish

Gerovasiliou Estate Avaton 2022

A wine from the coast of Salonica, it was a blend of Avaton, Gerovasileiou, Limnio, Mavroudi and Mavrotragano – all grape varieties that I really had not heard of before.

The first thing that struck me that this was a very tannic wine and the tannins tasted a bit green – like green capsicum.  Flavours of tar, liquorice, oak, green leaf came through along with some dustiness and a touch of bitterness.  The wine was medium-bodied and I found that the acidity standing apart from the other flavours.  The finish was driven by wood and tannin.  My friend really liked this wine but it had way too much wood and tannin for me.

Would pair well with charred red meat or food that was quite fatty, as it would cut through the fat.

Rating: Okay