It’s often said that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, and Greece has certainly been getting plenty of news coverage in the last few months. There’s no doubt that life is very tough for many Greeks but, at least for some wine producers on the Mediterranean’s fifth-largest island of Crete, not everything is doom and gloom. Demetri Walters MW of the UK’s Berry Bros. & Rudd says, “Greece’s agonies aren’t necessarily seen as negative when it comes to purchasing wine. So there’s some useful exposure out there, and it puts people in mind of Greek wine.”
At a glance
The island of Crete may be a microcosm of the Greek situation but it also has its own clear island identity and economic drivers. It’s warm, lying only 60 km from the Libyan coast, but mountains and sea breezes moderate the climate so it can be cooler than Thessaloniki in summer. It’s still very seismically active, meaning there’s a real mosaic of different soils, along with a bewildering array of unique local grapes, which are the mainstay of the industry here.
There are currently around 60 producers, producing the equivalent of around 22m bottles of wine per year, split 45% red, 45% white and 10% rosé. Of this, 70% of production is sold on Crete, with 15% going to the mainland, mostly Athens, and 15% to export, according to Wines of Crete. Key export markets are European destinations like Germany, Belgium, France, Serbia, Netherlands and Sweden, plus the United States, “which is a very important and rapidly-expanding market,” says Nicolas Miliarakis of Wines of Crete.
But the most important factor for Crete is the 2m tourists a year who visit the island. “This is an important factor that helps the awareness of our wines and creates for us sales opportunities abroad,” says Effie Kallinikidou, the export area manager for Mediterra Wines. Producer Bart Lyrarakis adds, “Crete has a blessing commercially in its great tourism industry. This huge wave of visitors is the best ground to build our brands and establish Crete as a well-respected wine region. It will take a lot of time, mainly because after the mentality of the wine people themselves, we also need to change that of the rest of the residents of Crete, especially the tourism industry people.”
Alexandra Manousakis of Nostos Wines cautions, “Tourists are still coming but they worry about silly things like whether they can use credit cards or if the shops will have food.” She adds, “Unlike the mainland where people are really suffering and worry about where the next meal is coming from, everyone here has gardens to produce food.” She explains that capital controls have caused some problems but it was still possible to do online transactions, something her winery has always done in a bid to keep everything transparent.
Kallinikidou adds, “For Mediterra, the crisis situation in Greece is an opportunity, and as such we have organised our work to keep growing in the domestic and export market. The facts that every Greek supplier is facing due to the capital controls and with the banks closed, have affected mostly the transportation of Greek products abroad. Suppliers that need to be paid cash in advance are increasing while the crisis is growing. Mediterra has adjusted to the new situation as all the companies will do.”
Perception barriers
One common concern is the growth of all-inclusive deals at tourist hotels, which may account for as much as 70% of wine sales, according to Wines of Crete. Such hotels tend to demand rock-bottom prices, often buying imports rather than local produce, so many tourists don’t taste the best of Crete’s great food and wine.
Crete has a very long history of wine, going back around 4,000 years to Minoan times. However, today’s industry has only recently turned to quality wine production after many years of focussing on large volume bulk. Lazaros Alexakis of Alexakis Wines believes, “Crete is about ten years behind the mainland, but catching up as the new kids are taking over.” He and his brother, who run Crete’s largest winery, are typical – Lazaros trained in Tuscany while Apostolos studied in California.
Manousakis explains, “Changes have been drastic in the last ten years, as the newer generation went abroad to study and came back bringing new techniques and knowledge.” Manousakis’s father is another example, returning from the US to do something for his home village, and bringing French and American experts to analyse the soils. The result was a small boutique winery called Nostos (“nostalgia”) specialising in Rhône varieties, including a Rousanne that is often Greece’s most expensive cult white wine. “We sold our first production to a US importer while it was still in tank,” says Manousakis who returned to Crete eight years ago to run the winery; he was meant to stay for just a couple of years, but stayed on.
Most producers believe in the potential of Crete’s local varieties. Lyrarakis explains, “Our near future is obviously bound up with working on our native grapes, so that means using our differentiation point: completely different grapes, terroir, and people. It’s the only thing other wineries from around the world cannot do for now. We will never be cheaper or better in making low-end wines, and in the end, we don't want to.” And from a buyer’s perspective, Walters says, “The Islands (including Crete) seem to be where the most interesting white wines come from at the present time.” However he also sees a role for international varieties, “Enabling Hellenic wine producers to make good wine whilst they better-understand their native grapes. Native grapes are often difficult to grow, and were lumped-in together by peasants in years gone by when the onus was on quantity and not quality.”
Alexakis points out that their winery only launched its bottled wines, which are based on local grapes, five years ago. “We decided to select the best vineyards from our growers but it was hard to get people to switch ideas. Now they realise the money is better and that they have to work less if they work correctly.” He adds, “We pay on quality and check everything – growers call me ‘The Bear’ as I’m so fierce about sniffing out rot – and all the growers get to taste a bottle from their vineyard as here on Crete our sense of pride is one of our strongest features.” This doesn’t always work in the wine industry’s favour though as Manousakis points out, practically every household and taverna makes its own wine and, “Everyone will tell you ‘my wine is the best’, though sadly the tradition is for very oxidised wines from grapes like local Romeiko, which tourists taste and find to be trash. It’s so bad it shuts the door for wine lovers to taste any other wines from Crete.”
Local strengths
However, there is also evidence that Crete has great potential in its local varieties. The trendy Assyrtiko is claimed to originate from Crete though Santorini has made it famous. It keeps its acidity and mineral character even in warm Cretan conditions and is also a good blending partner to the pleasant but slightly soft Athiri (also called Thrapsathiri). Vidiano is the rising star, with its lovely crisp pear-scented character and with several top-level international awards behind it; Alexakis won Decanter gold in 2014. Vilana is the white variety behind Peza and Sitia PDOs, “I believe it's a fantastic grape,” said John Makrygiannakis of Mediterra. “It survived here because it can be very productive, but it also has quality potential.” While it’s mostly grown at high yields for basic wine, Mediterra makes its Xerolithia from venerable, low-yielding vines on terraces at 650 metre altitude and the wine shows a remarkable ability to age for at least a decade.
The island’s two native red grapes arguably need more work to prove their merits. Mandilari is naturally almost a ‘teinturier’ with coloured juice and austere structure, so it’s usually blended. It works well with the lighter, plummy and more mellow Kotsifali, a blend that is specified in PDO Peza.
Another unique feature of Crete is that producers are prepared to work together, “which Greeks generally don’t like to do,” said one producer. Manousakis explains, “Crete has more of a small-town mentality and producers have realised they can only move forwards as one.” The Wines of Crete organisation was founded in 2006 and brings together 31 producers, accounting for 90% of bottled wine production on the island. It has attracted funding of around €1m ($1.1m) – partly from producers, plus around 70% from national funds and EU projects – to promote Cretan wine and wine tourism through tastings, wine fairs, publications and social media. Miliarakis says, “Even if it is difficult to measure the results in figures, we can see a clear difference concerning the brand value of “Wines of Crete” since 2006. This is actually the main reason why the ‘Wines of Crete’ project is still on the go, as members still strongly support the whole idea. Exports particularly to the States and China have been backed by our promotional activities. Another measurable result is the increase of wine tourists visiting our wineries, an estimated 50% increase within the past 6 years.”
Lyrarakis sums up, “I believe Crete is like a Maglev train, but there are not many people yet that know it exists. It (the wine industry of Crete) hasn't yet established enough confidence in itself, it doesn't yet know it is a very good and fast train. We have a lot of native varieties, a great climate, and finally lately we have the right mentality, so the human factor, the most important one, is now right.”
Tough times still lie ahead for Greece as the terms of its bailout and austerity measures unravel, but if any part of the wine industry is going to weather the crisis, Crete looks to be an island of hope in the midst of stormy waters.
