 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Viticulture area: approx. 50,500 hectares Wine production: approx. hectoliters Crete, accounting for 20% of Greek wine production, is a sleeping giant. While the wine industry elsewhere in Greece has undergone a high profile resurrection, Crete, to the untrained eye, would appear to have missed the boat. Even wine professionals in Greece are quick to assert that Crete lacks quality cultivars. It is true that the wider revolution in the industry never reached Crete in quite the same way as it did on the mainland. This is partly due to the dominance of cooperatives, on whom a great number of growers are dependent. With important exceptions, cooperatives in Greece have been slow to risk an approach that involves lowering yields. Understandably, the idea of decreasing production is anathema to cooperative members trying to feed families, especially in the absence of the kind of marketing expertise essential to opening premium markets. Hence the true potential of local cultivars are rarely realized by cooperatives. Ultimately, only unequivocal demand can alter yield philosophies. In Crete, this has not quite happened. Another factor is the existence of some large companies that cast sufficiently long shadows that would-be upstarts have been fearful of competing against them. Phylloxera took a bite out of Cretan vineyards beginning gradually in 1974. it is still a problem today. Although the sporadic spread of the disease gave the industry time to insure the survival and propogation of cultivars on new rootstock, one of the worst long-term effects of Phylloxera was the loss of old vines necessary for the production of serious wine from the Kotsifali variety. When the paradigm began to shift everywhere else in Greece, Arhanes and Peza, two major appellation zones, were out of fuel. That is the bad news. The good news is that, by all indications, Crete's entrance into the premium market will be well worth waiting for. Fortunately, the very dependence of growers on the Arhanes and Peza appellation names resulted in the prompt replanting of the appellation-stipulated varieties (Kotsifali and Mandilaria). A more "advanced" local industry might (as has been the case in other regions at various times) have opted to introduce new varieties for vins de pays production with an eye on capitalizing on the trend towards Western cultivars. That they did not do so excessively speaks partly to the prescience of the creators of the appellations, who clearly understood their value, perhaps remembering a time when aged Arhanes (likely during the era when low-yield cultivation was a naturally foregone conclusion) compared favorably with French and Spanish wines.
A large local firm with winemaking roots going back 70 years, the Miliarakis Brothers, under the Minos moniker, have begun steady upwards momentum working steadfastly exclusively with indigenous cultivars They have long-standing export markets as well as high visibility in the tourist market on Crete. The Boutaris, icons of the Greek wine industry and the largest producer in the country, established roots in Crete in 1990 with the establishment of their Fantaxometocho Estate in Kato Arhanes. Under the direction of winery manager Yiannis Konstantakis the estate has begun the complicated task of finding the best combination of climate, traditional varieties and modern vinification that will yield superior wines. Local grapes are cultivated side-by-side with some Western varieties the Boutaris hope will fulfill the promise of international-quality Cretan wines. The 26 year-old Creta-Oympias winery, primarily a bulk wine producer, was acquired in 1997 by the Casfikis Group with the aim of upgrading to premium-level production. Improved vineyard practices and renovations of the plant to state-of-the-art standards have already brought the company prestige in urban markets. While the Arhanes Cooperative continues its slow, steady recovery from Phylloxera, the Peza Cooperative has accelerated its product development and marketing, including the addition of an impressive visitor center. In the east of Crete the Sitia region is home to a variety called Liatiko, an early-ripening grape of complex character that is undergoing more scrutiny by conscientious vintners. These include the forward-thinking Sitia Cooperative, a producer of ever more daring and sophisticated wines from indigenous grapes, and one of two bright young stars on the Cretan horizon, Yannis Economou. Economou, in particular, seems poised to put Liatiko on the international map. That change in Crete is truly underway is evidenced by the emergence of new blood. In addition to Economou, there is Nikolaos Douloufakis, a young enologist whose winemaking roots in Dafnes, just south of Iraklio, extend back generations. He is in the midst of renovating his family's traditional winery and vineyard. The results of his early efforts have been so promising that he is already the object of quiet scrutiny elsewhere in Greece. Young winemakers, boutique wines and improving standards are all signs of a wine industry on the move. Adding color to this mix is the emergence of a small but determined negociant firm in Iraklio called Digenakis. A seeming anomaly in the current estate-centric phase of the industry, their existence and marketing acumen add to the impression of a full-bodied revival of Crete's ancient winemaking fortunes. |
|
||||||||||||
