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Samos is a beautiful island—the
most verdant in its part of the Aegean—despite several years of fires that have taken
a toll on her trees but not, thankfully, her vineyards. Samos is in plain view of
the Turkish coast, mountainous and rugged in places, but a beneficiary of water in
quantities rare among Greek islands.
The viticultural history of Samos can be divided into two distinct periods: the one
before incursions by pirates in the late 1400s occasioned a mass exodus of the population,
and the one after the island was repopulated during the late 1600s. Samos wine was
famous in ancient times, not, however, for its quality, but for its lack of quality.
According to Miles Lambert-Gocs,
- ...during antiquity Samos did
not acquire grape varieties capable of bringing out its potential for viticulture.
Right up to the fifteenth century AD, Samos seems to have been known in the Greek
world only as a producer and trader of red wine, and that was probably dry rather
than sweet. [p. 19]
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View towards Karlovasi from Leka
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However or whenever it arrived on
Samos, the Moschato Aspro
came to dominate the varietal complexion of the island, cementing Samos' reputation
for sweet wine in international markets. Red varieties had existed until phylloxera
ravaged vineyards in 1892. Economics governed the decision to replant vineyards with
the more profitable Moschato Aspro.
The classic nature of Samos wines, one that still defines Muscat in much of Europe—including
France—created an identity for the wines that ultimately transcended any association
with Greekness, this in spite of the fact that by the early 1900s almost all exported
Samos wine was not wine at all, but vin de liqueur
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The island is known for its terraced vineyards
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Inspired to put and end to disagreements
between growers and traders on Samos precipitated, in part, by a drop in prices during
the world wine glut between the the First and Second World Wars, the Greek government
established a cooperative on the island in 1934 and a prototype appellation that
insured that the Samos name could only be used if wines were vinified in one of several
styles and were produced only from Moschato Aspro. In addition, strict limits were
placed on vineyard area and the cooperative was obligated to purchase all grapes
offered for sale. With no financial incentive for growers to cultivate any other
varieties, 98% of Samos vineyards came to be planted with Moschato Aspro.
The Samos
Cooperative produces eight
products: four sweet wines; three dry; and a rosé. The dessert wines are fortified
and unfortified and aged fortified and unfortified. The fortified, unaged Vin Doux
and unfortified, aged Samos Nectar are classic dessert wines. The dry Moschato wines
include a barrel-aged version and a grand cru made from less ripe, mountain grapes.
The cooperative also produces a rosé from two of the surviving local red varieties,
Fokianó and Ritinó.
The cooperative also sells appellation Samos to Kourtakis
and Tsantalis.
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Grapegrower returning home
Village priest
Leka street scene
Signs of recent fires
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