500 Wineries & Counting

Greece has one of the oldest wine cultures dating back to over 3,000 years. You have probably heard the comment, "Greeks were the first to make wine and introduce to it all of the winemaking regions of today". As a fellow Greek, its great to hear and so much pride felt when others acknowledge that historical fact. Believe it or not, Greece’s ‘New World wine culture’ is younger than... Greece has one of the oldest wine cultures dating back to over 3,000 years. You have probably heard the comment, "Greeks were the first to make wine and introduce to it all of the winemaking regions of today". As a fellow Greek, its great to hear and so much pride felt when others acknowledge that historical fact. Believe it or not, Greece’s ‘New World wine culture’ is younger than ten years. As shocking as it sounds, Greece’s wine culture has gone through many phases of suppression that has now allowed it to blossom unlike other countries. The timeline of events such as, the occupation of the Romans, Ottomans, Axis powers and Greece’s domestic issues throughout the 20th century have contributed to the lack of wine production.

Greece’s 'New World' wine culture has finally begun to emerge from the labyrinth. In 1998, there were close to 200 fully operating wineries throughout all the regions of Greece. Ten years prior to that, the numbers were relatively low, since the production was mainly grape growing that was sold off for many different purposes. Thanks, to the support and efforts from The European Union collaborating with the government of Greece, programs and financial assistance have been implemented to grow and develop one of the world’s oldest wine region. The programs have assisted in developing and educating viticulturists and oenologists on many different levels from nurturing their vines to handling sophisticated equipment.

Since then, there are 566 fully operating wineries (produce the wine and bottle it on premise) throughout Greece, a significant increase that has shown the promising potentials of the country’s future. The region with the largest amount of wineries is Peloponessos, 135; Central Greece 131: Makedonia 114; The Aegean Island, 57: Crete, 52, Thessaly, 33; Thraki 13; Epirus, 8. Of course there are many more operations throughout Greece, but they are technically a full operation and their production levels are relatively small for the supply of their respected local market.

This in my opinion is a 'renaissance', of what used to a mirror image of the wine culture in Greece millenniums ago. Domestically, sales of these productions have gone to record levels, it is now the time where investments and development need to be directed towards the exports of these fine wines. Continue to watch the selections that appear on the shelf at your local wine shop or on the wine lists at some of your favorite restaurants.