Wine Tasting in Greece – Ancient and Modern!
Wine has always helped to get the intellectual and creative juices flowing and never was this truer than in ancient Greece. Symposia were essentially wine-fueled philosophical discussions held between the greatest minds of the day, such as Socrates and Aristophanes. Our Greek wine tours and wine tasting in Greece retrace age-old steps that helped shape our modern world.
The Acropolis is a must-see in Athens on our Greece wine tours
Wine Tours in Athens and Nemea
Our clients visiting Greece will start their trips in Athens, an incredibly historic city that should be explored for a couple of days and the perfect place to kick-start your Greek wine tours experience. We will set up sightseeing for you and/or leave you time free to wander around.
The historic center of Athens is now well stocked with wine bars and has a trendy wine-drinking culture that is heavily centered around locals. Thousands of enthusiastic tourists a day can’t hurt either!
All of our wine tours, (wherever they are) start with an introductory wine tasting session. In Athens, we will most likely start at Fine Wine literally a stone’s throw from the Theatre of Dionysus (the Greek God of wine). This family-run wine bar and store has offerings from all over the country. The people here are very knowledgable and will ensure you drink some great wine and learn a little about different Greek wine regions.
During your wine travels in Greece, you will come across many of the usual suspects such as Cab Sav, Chardonnay, and Merlot, but we will show you lots of local varieties too. You might break your jaw trying to pronounce them but you will love the taste of varieties such as Malagousia, Xinomavro, Moschofilero, Agiorigitiko, and Assyrtiko.
Overview of 2-Day Nemea Trip from Athens
We will enjoy 2 days visiting wineries and vineyards in Nemea and will spend the night in the picture-postcard town of Nafplion. We will visit 5 or 6 wineries in Nemea, something that is possible as you are staying overnight in the region and not driving back to Athens on the same day.
It will take around 2 hours to get out of Athens and into this beautiful and extremely historic wine country, literally a land of legend. Arriving in Nemea we will have several winery appointments set over the 2 days, and you can ask us for anything non-wine to be added of course. History buffs will be very well entertained and informed it goes without saying.
If you have a particular winery in mind to visit then we can add that to your schedule of course, but if not just let us choose. Semeli Winery is a favorite of ours, and the location perched on the top of a hill offers lovely views over the Nemea countryside. The steep vineyards slope off in different directions over limestone and clays soils, offering differing terroir for indigenous grapes.
As with many wineries in Nemea Semeli is producing great quality wine and has a superb visitor experience. The Nemea flagship grape of Agioritiko is a specialism here, as is lees-contact Moschofilero.
Skouros is another favorite of ours, great wine and superb staff. The enthusiasm of the Somms here overflows and entertains. There are so many options in this compact wine region, visiting them requires a short drive in-between and with your overnight in Nafplion you can really enjoy your time in the area without rushing.
A wine tasting in Greece is very easily linked to wine tours in other nearby countries. A combination tour with Turkey, for example, based out of Istanbul is logistically easy and a superb experience. It is a short flight away, has some spectacular wines, wineries and regions and there is so much to do when not tasting. Please ask us for details.
