When talking about a specific country and its wines, we can not forget to mention its diversity in terms of terroirs; a commonly used term that defines the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, climate and the people that cultivate those lands.
Travelling around Greece you will be admired by its diversity.
Mountains contrast beautiful kilometers of coastal lines, where clear blue waters reflect the green landscapes or even the blackish rocks and soils from the existing volcanoes and the climate, although predominantly Mediterranean, provides even more diversity to Greece's unique wines.
Looking closer to the Greek vineyard distribution, you will understand that the majority are situated in semi-mountainous and mountainous areas and that the areas producing wines that carry a protected designation of origin (PDO wines) labels are situated in these either smooth or slightly inclined terrains, such as Amynteo, Zitsa, Metsovo, Achaia, Samos, Nemea, Peza, Cephalonia and Rapsani. Here, the differences in altitudes contribute to important changes between midday and night hours which lead to an optimal ripening and increase in grape concentration.
Travelling more inland, the climate changes. The continental areas take over and the vineyards here are few but the grapes are of high quality. The temperatures during the night are low and during the day very high. Rainfall is something rare during the summer and so, irrigation becomes crucial. If you will be travelling in Attica, Mantinia and the Nemean uplands, you will be able to find vineyards that are grown in these type of microclimates.
Going closer to the coastal areas, the climate changes again and the sea breeze takes over and conceives unique characteristics to the resulting wines. Great examples are the terroirs of Thrace, Kavala and Halkidiki in northern Greece, Anchialos and Fthiotida in Central Greece, Patras and Trifilia in the Peloponnese, Crete and all the islands of the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
Finally, the volcanic terroirs. Rare and unique in terms of characteristics, conceive special aromas and tastes to the wines made here. Santorini wines are the perfect example for that. Here, the vines are planted on the typical santorinian soil, which is composed by pumice stone, solidified lava and sand which have been deposited from the successive eruptions of the volcano and are not suitable for the propagation of Phylloxera and so, no rootstock is needed.
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