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The History of Greek Sparkling Wines

Grapes hanging on the vine
It might surprise you when we tell you that the Greeks were viticulture pioneers.

You may initially associate wine, both still and sparkling, more with France, Spain, and Italy, but without the Greeks, we may not enjoy quite as many varieties as we’re able to today - Aphrodise is one such example of what Greek grapes are capable of.  With roots that stretch back to the Ancient Greeks, we’re looking at where winemaking in Greece began, how it’s evolved, and the legacy that is still honored today.  

Ancient beginnings

Greek’s early wine trail blazers can be identified as early as 4,000 BC, and initially were actually ordinary people, with households and small communities combining both red and white grapes to create early field blends. Domesticated vines were cultivated towards the second half of the fifth millennium BC.

Athens ruins

The unique position of Greece between the Aegean, the Mediterranean and the Ionian seas, plus the sheer diversity in the terroirs found across the country, means that there are plenty of indigenous grape varieties for them to have explored.

Locations with particularly rich histories in winemaking include Zitsa, in the mountainous region of Epiru, the northwestern area of Thrace, and the island of Crete, where artifacts have been discovered that suggest wine making on something of a professional scale.

Of course, no mention of Ancient Greece can be without reference to its mythology, and there is, unsurprisingly, a Greek wine god, Dionysus; an indication of how highly wine was regarded in this era.

Historical evolution

During the Byzantine period, which spanned from approximately 330 AD to 1453 AD, winemaking continued to be an important part of Greek life, with growing, storing, and fermenting practices constantly updated by dedicated Greeks. With Christianity a dominant religion, wine became essential for the Eucharist.

As sparkling wines started to become popular throughout Europe during the 18th and 19th century thanks mainly to France and Italy, this idea of adding fizz to wine started to be explored in Greece too. Champagne in particular was a huge inspiration and influence on Greek winemakers. The experimentation with secondary fermentation, required to add carbon dioxide to a base wine, began to be explored in the late 19th and early 20th century.

View of Athens

A modern renaissance

Harvesting grapes

The 1970s saw Greece’s winemaking take off once again, when investment was made into Greek vineyards that had fallen victim of neglect during the early 20th century. This investment meant that indigenous grape varieties were revived, and the whites, reds, rosés, and sparkling varieties that the Greek landscape is capable of could once again be explored.

Technological advancements in the world of wine meant that the grapes indigenous to Greece, such as Roditis, Savvatiano, Xinomavro and Agiorgitiko, could be properly honored, increasing the quality and consistency of the wines, including sparkling, that they produced.

Today, the production of Greek wine is thriving, thanks to vineyards with north-facing slopes and higher altitudes, giving Green sparkling wines a fresh, well-balanced flavor. Growing demand for both still and sparkling wines is testament to perfected growing and fermentation methods.

To conclude

At Aphrodise, it’s a privilege to work with the Xinomavro grape to produce a truly refreshing sparkling wine, prepared with the modern methods that help bring out the best in it. If you’ve not yet tried Greek sparkling wine, we urge you to; it’s truly sensational.

Ancient Greek ruins