Chief Greek Bland de gris Winegrape Varieties

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Blanc de Gris Varieties Employed in the Commercial Production of White Wine

There are a number of red or pink-skinned Greek cultivars used to produce white wine, including Roditis and Sideritis, but Moschofilero (below) is currently the only true blanc de gris grape of indigenous origin important in wine production in Greece.

Photographs are courtesy of The Greek Vitis Database.

Moschofilero

During the past decade, Moschofilero has risen in significance to become regarded in Greece as an important producer of premium white wines. This cultivar has a long history on the Peloponnesos and genetic research (M. Boutaris) suggests it is related to several varieties from the eastern coast of that region supposed to have been employed in the production of Malvasia wines during the Middle Ages. It is second only to the Greek Muscats in eliciting comparisons to Alsation varieties. It's wines are frequently compared to Muscats and Traminer, but the comparisons overstate any real simliarities. Speculation that Moschofilero is related to the the Traminer grape has roven to be wrong. Most serious production of Moschofilero wines is centered in the Mantinia plateau, a soil-rich plain in the center of a mountain range in northern Arkadía on the Peloponnesos. At these elevations (upwards of 600 meters), sugar and alcohol can be low and acid considerable. Unlike the continental grapes with which it has been compared, however, Moschofilero is delicate to a fault and adverse weather (rain in particular) can throw off its precarious balance. At its best, the grape produces wines of quiet character, their best attributes being elegance, crispness and subtle flower aromas (rose petal).

At the time of the writing of the Wines of Greece (the late 1980s), Miles Lambert-Gocs found little commercial production of the variety worth mentioning. His work had just pre-dated a rennaissance in Mantinia that is in full swing today. A variety of producers have been exploring the potential of Moschofilero to produce a distinct, if slight, set of variations on style (not to mention attempts by Cambas at Vendage Tardives). Color can be surprisingly varied (within a limited range, of course) from nearly invisible, to greyish to pale yellow. Producers devoted to low temeprature skin contact, Spyropoulos being the most obvious example, bring out a distinct silvery hue and ephemeral, airy aromas. Antonopoulos Vineyards, George Skouras and Yiannis Tselepos are key producers of Mantinia. Tselepos, whose vineyards are among the highest in Greece, is widely believed to have mastered this grape, producing versions that consistently show international potential.

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Moschofilero

	During the past decade, Moschofilero has risen in significance to become regarded in Greece as an important producer of premium white wines. This cultivar has a long history on the Peloponnesos and genetic research (M. Boutaris) suggests it is related to several varieties from the eastern coast of that region supposed to have been employed in the production of Malvasia wines during the Middle Ages. It is second only to the Greek Muscats in eliciting comparisons to Alsation varieties. It's wines are frequently compared to Muscats and Traminer, but the comparisons overstate any real simliarities. Speculation that Moschofilero is related to the the Traminer grape has roven to be wrong. Most serious production of Moschofilero wines is centered in the Mantinia plateau, a soil-rich plain in the center of a mountain range in northern Arkadía on the Peloponnesos. At these elevations (upwards of 600 meters), sugar and alcohol can be low and acid considerable. Unlike the continental grapes with which it has been compared, however, Moschofilero is delicate to a fault and adverse weather (rain in particular) can throw off its precarious balance. At its best, the grape produces wines of quiet character, their best attributes being elegance, crispness and subtle flower aromas (rose petal). At the time of the writing of the Wines of Greece (the late 1980s), Miles Lambert-Gocs found little commercial production of the variety worth mentioning. His work had just pre-dated a rennaissance in Mantinia that is in full swing today. A variety of producers have been exploring the potential of Moschofilero to produce a distinct, if slight, set of variations on style (not to mention attempts by Cambas at Vendage Tardives). Color can be surprisingly varied (within a limited range, of course) from nearly invisible, to greyish to pale yellow. Producers devoted to low temeprature skin contact, Spyropoulos being the most obvious example, bring out a distinct silvery hue and ephemeral, airy aromas. Antonopoulos Vineyards, George Skouras and Yiannis Tselepos are key producers of Mantinia. Tselepos, whose vineyards are among the highest in Greece, is widely believed to have mastered this grape, producing versions that consistently show international potential.