Over the past three years of The Wine Depository we’ve had some pretty amazing journeys into wine lands known and unknown. All in the name of drinking great wine, none of it was fun… Even the beautiful food we ate… Or the good company…

On the 12^th June you need to join me so you can meet two of the greatest Greek wine producers. Leon Karatsalos – Agronomist & Co-Owner of Gaia Wines and Lambros Papadimitriou – Sales & Marketing Director at Kir Yianni are responsible for some of the best wines to come from Greece. Over a four course dinner at Neighbourhood Wine you will  have a trio of whites from the amazing Assyrtiko grape. Then you get to enjoy three vintages of two of the best wines in Greece. Neighbourhood Wine has specially crafted a menu for you to match with the wines you will look at. Check out the menu here: Greek Wine Dinner With Gaia and Kir Yianni

It is fair to say Greece has made a lot of bad wine in the past (well, they are still doing it). And they should issue a formal apology for Retsina. However they are also capable of making wines that are world class. Of course they are, they’ve had a few thousand years experience! I felt like Greece was worth missing on the wine map until I started trying some of the wines. If you enjoy the wines of Burgundy, Piedmont, Rhone Valley, Barossa Valley or Rioja then you’ll find something to love in these wines.  If there is one thing you’ve learnt about The Wine Depository over the last few years, it is that you don’t have to worry about coming across bad wine.

Wine has been an important part of Greek culture for over 4000 years. The modern industry is only as old as the 1960s, their first appellation was not instituted until 1971 and the biggest leaps in quality came in the 1980s. It was in the 80s that investment in technology was seen and professionally educated wine makers returned from abroad and embraced the wealth of native varieties rather than focussing on the internationals.

We will take over Neighbourhood Wine’s fire room and be served a Greek inspired feast selected to match the wines that are on show. To start you will have a glass of Kir Yianni’s Sparkling Xinomavro Brut Rose. Champagne expert Tom Stevenson says “Xinomavro’s naturally high acid and intrinsically low colour makes it the obvious choice for anyone trying to craft a sparkling wine that is expressive of its Greek roots…” Then we move on to a bracket of whites from Gaia. All wines are from the wonderful Volcano Santorini and are made from the very much of the earth Assyrtiko grape variety. After that we will look at three vintages of Gaia’s much celebrated Estate Red made from the dense and tannic Agiorgitiko grape sourced from Nemea in the Peloponnese. And to finish off we will have three vintages of Kir-Yianni’s Dyo Elies which is sourced from blocks on the Estate that reflect the main Terroirs they work with. A glass of Greek Muscat will top off the night and you will be converted Greek wine lover from that point on.

Do not miss out on this rare opportunity.