If you think Greek wine begins and ends with Retsina, you’ve clearly never crossed the Corinth Canal from Athens. But let’s start further back. Let’s start with Dionysus.
For the last 600 years of Greek history, the Greek god of wine, festivity, fertility, and folly seems to have been…no show, no go. Perhaps sipping quietly in Olympus while the Greek wine world struggled. Let me explain.
Where Was Dionysus?
Before my recent visit to the Peloponnese wine region, I didn’t understand the obstacles Greek wine has faced over the centuries. The Ottoman Occupation of Greece lasted about 400 years, until the Greek Revolution in 1821. The Ottomans systematically burned vineyards and shut down wine production. Where was Dionysus then?