by Wojciech Bońkowski MW
First published on Polityka, issue 38.2025 (3532), September 16, 2025; People and Styles, p. 105
An innovative competition has shaken up Greece’s stagnant wine industry.
I return to the topic of Greek wines. Hellas’ transformation from Europe’s ugly duckling into a beautiful swan over barely a decade is unprecedented in modern history. Not long ago, the country produced only resin-tainted retsinas and local blends drowned in vanilla oak, desperately mixed with Merlot to save face. Today, the landscape is dazzling, sparkling with fresh maritime and mountain flavors, adorned with original styles, and—ironically—driven by local grape varieties.
Assýrtiko, Aidani, Vidiano, Thrapsathiri, Robola, Roditis, Moschofilero, Malagouzia, Xinomavro, Agiorgitiko, Mavrodaphne, Limniona, Kotsifali, Mandilaria. Liatiko, and a hundred others now give Greek wines a unique and unrepeatable character.
Recognizing this heritage, Great Greek Wines played a crucial role. It was launched in the pandemic year of 2020 by Yiannis Karakasis, one of only two Greek Masters of Wine. Formerly a navy commander and helicopter pilot, he decided to dive into the Greek wine sea and pick its 50 best, most original bottles. For judging, he invited world-renowned tasters, all Masters of Wine or Master Sommeliers. And instead of receiving bottles directly from wineries (a plague of other competitions, where “journalist cuvées” are often doctored to impress), he chose to buy wines from shops. This ensured the wines were tasted exactly as consumers would encounter them.
There were more innovations. Instead of scoring wines on the 100-point scale and averaging results (which inevitably favors safe, uncontroversial wines), jurors were forced to discuss every bottle and reach consensus. The result wasn’t a shower of gold, silver, and bronze medals as in many contests, where a third of entries can earn stickers, but simply a list of the 50 best bottles produced in Greece.
The format caught on immediately. The first list in 2020 was a sensation, as alongside famous and respected wines appeared unexpected gems: an unoaked Nemea Thronos for €10 or the utterly eccentric Methymneaos from Lesvos, with a bouquet of dried flowers. Top estates like Argyros from Santorini and Lyrarakis from Crete solidified their reputations through Great Greek Wines.
In subsequent years, many slots were taken by new-generation retsinas: wonderfully crisp, with pure notes of freshly gathered pine resin from seaside groves. At first, Greece’s wine world was skeptical, but the power of the trend soon prevailed. Today, wines like Troupis’ Pytis Ritinitis or the fashionable Kallos 1979 are appearing on the lists of the best restaurants.
The success grew so large that this year’s edition received nearly 700 entries, making it impossible to stick to just 50. Now, Great Greek Wines highlights 10% of submitted bottles. For the third year in a row, the list includes, for example, the red Limniona Oenops with flavors of freshly picked raspberries, as well as the waxy Kydonitsa from Monemvasia on the Peloponnese, once considered a local oddity, now launched as a global trend. Whether you drink Greek wine daily or only on holiday, this list is required reading.
This week’s recommended wines:
- Alpha Estate, Amyndeo Rosé Xinomavro 2024 – 119 PLN (melideli.pl)
- Gerovassiliou, Malagousia 2023 – 139 PLN (melideli.pl)
- Kir-Yianni, Naoussa Ramnista 2020 – 148.50 PLN (domwina.pl)
- Biblia Chora, Ovilos White 2023 – 159 PLN (melideli.pl)
- Gavalas, Santorini Wild Ferment 2022 – 204.99 PLN (greckieprzysmaki.pl)