First Vintages: A Greek Wine Retrospective 1984-2007

Very often, when people taste an old vintage they get excited and carried away solely by the fact that what they are tasting is old. Well, I do not think that is enough! What I find important is not whether a wine has managed to survive time, but whether this passing of time has expanded the complexity of aromas, flavors and textures. This means it should be better than what it was at its starting point. To have managed to survive and to just remain alive is a factor that degrades a wine, rather than manifests its quality. It is one thing to get old and it is another thing to age gracefully!

My view on how Greek varieties behave over time has been recorded in my online book 'The Vineyards and Wines of Greece', but I am always in search of mature examples that will allow me to explore their ageing potential, even further. So, I seized the unique opportunity that I was given by the Wine Producers Association of Northern Greece Vineyards to organize a MW Masterclass that allowed me to unearth first vintages (or the oldest available) from their cellars; a total of 13 wines. Altogether, 11 reds and 2 whites were included in the lineup, with the oldest bottle dating back to 1984, when I was still in junior high school, and the youngest being a 2007 vintage. Charmingly, many of these wines had never been presented to the public before.