English | Greek Wine World

By Alexandra Manousakis

As a little girl growing up in Washington, D.C. it was always my dream to eventually move to Greece. Having vacationed in Crete religiously every summer I knew that one day I would end up on this mythical island where everything seemed heavenly. After graduating from Washington International School I set off for the other city I loved, New York, where I attended New York University.

There I studied Business Administration, Art and Hellenic Studies at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. It was at NYU that I was able to cultivate even more my fascination with Greece and, more specifically, with Crete. I tried tapping into my roots by becoming president of the Hellenic Heritage Association (a club for students of Greek origin on campus) and I started to learn about Modern Greek history and focused my studies on Modern Greek identity. I spent my weekends at Greek clubs in Astoria, Queens and you could say I was as much in the Greek world of America as I could be at that point.

1.07.2009

Vineyards of soul

By Mike Jones

Mike Jones is the assistant winemaker at Gentilini. In this report he shares insight from his unique experience in working on two very different island vineyards. NM

All is not well with the wineries of New Zealand. Too much commercial wine has been produced and they have reached a saturation point. The vinegrowers and big wineries have been too greedy with their yield over the past 20 years which has resulted in cheap wine for the masses which has been good for the wine trade. But is that what the market needs right now?

Upon arrival to the East Cape this year, the Gisborne Herald headlined a story that would upset any wine producer. ‘Grapegrowing Glut’ by Debbie Gregory (18^th Feb ‘09 http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/) explained that Constellation were to blame for leaving what I found out to be a conservative estimate of 650 Tonne of varieties used to blend with Sauvignon Blanc, on the vine. These normally early ripeners meant that the season was put back 2 to 3 weeks which meant that most overseas workers were left to find other work for that space of time. I was one of those workers and so found a job pinning nets in the vineyards of Gisborne. This gave me a good opportunity to nose around and have a good look and compare with the vineyards of Kefalonia.

3.06.2009

The Art of Martial Marketing: An Ancient General Teaches Lessons In International Wine Marketing

by John Szabo, MS

It might at first seem outrageously oblique, but as I was re-reading recently Sun Tzu’s unsurpassed treaty The Art of War, I was struck by the lessons that could be drawn from the text and applied to the marketing of wine. And Greek wine comes to mind, having just returned from my fifth annual voyage to the cradle of the wine world. The purpose of the trip, in addition to judging at the 9^th annual international wine competition in Thessaloniki, was to participate in a “branding strategy session” to help shape the future promotional strategy for the wines of Greece. Along with a group of international, non-Greek ‘experts’ from the US, UK, Brazil and Russia in the fields of wine journalism and importation/distribution, I had been invited by PRC, a marketing/PR company hired by the Wines of Greece to come up with a promotional strategy for Greek wines. We were to take part in a tasting of potential ‘ambassador’ wines and weigh in with our outsider’s views on Greek wine grapes, wine styles, labeling and other promotional advantages and disadvantages of Greek wines in an international context.

28.05.2009

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New contribution by Nico now available in Greece at News Stand - Eleftheroudakis, Papasotiriou, Public, Fnac and selected International Bookshops