Muscat of Samos

Have you ever been to the Aegean Island of Samos? Neither have I, so let's go there. Our trip to Samos is a bit tricky. Despite that the little isle is separated from the western coast of Turkey by only about 1 mile/1.6 km, the way to get here is through Athens. So, hopping on the blogplane, we are able to fly directly to Athens and from there take the long ferry ride across the Aegean to Samos.

Once one of the smaller city-states of ancient Greece, Samos has a long and storied history. Going back to those ancient times, it was one of the major wine producing areas of the ancient world. It was also one of the major centers of mathematics in the ancient world as Pythagoras, yes he of the Pythagorean Theorem, obvious to some high schoolers and tantamount to a capital crime to others, was born and spent most of his life here. Aristarchus of Samos also spent his life here. Who was he? He was an ancient philosopher and astronomer who is believed to have been the first person to propose that the earth does, in fact, revolve around the sun.

Today, despite having dropped off some since its peak in the 1990s, Samos is known as a tourist destination. But, to the locals, its a center of agriculture. Despite the small size of the isle, they are able to produce large quantities of olives (and olive oil), figs, almonds, citrus fruit (moslty local oranges), honey, and grapes. And, the grape that the isle is most known for is a variety of Muscat known, of courst as Muscat of Samos.

Near the center of Samos is Mount Ampelos. Rising about 1150m/3800 feet above sea level, the southern facing slopes are perfect for cultivating an early harvesting grape with extremely high natural sugar content. During fermentation, the wine is fortified with natural wine alcohol giving it akcohol content usually ranging from 15-17% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Not surprisinlgy given the local agriculture, our Muscat of Samos is loaded with honey, orange zest and orange blosson, honey, candied almonds and pecans, and what can only be described as apricot sauce. It's typically quite viscous, and ideally served around 10C/50F to make it more liquidy and perhaps just a bit more syrupy than if it were served a few degrees cooler.

When pairing a sweet wine with dessert, the key is that the wine must be sweeter than the dessert. And, when we think about Greek desserts, we, or at least I do, usually think sweet. So, for those, Muscat of Samos is ideal. Pair these luxurious wines with sharp cheeses, stollen, and of course, baklava.



Comments

Post a Comment

I'd like your feedback and questions.

Popular posts from this blog

Gruner Veltliner

With some time to kill and wanting to see the countryside, but obviously not able to drive ourselves, we hailed an Uber to go from northern Italy to Wachau, Austria right on the Danube (little did I know that I would need an additional credit card for this trip). We're going to drink wine from the most widely planted grape in the country, Gruner Veltliner. As we arrive on the east bank of the river, we see a number of bottles set out for us. But, something is odd. None of them are the traditional 750 ml bottle that we are used to. No, the wine sometimes affectionately known as Gru-V is bottled in chubby, almost cylindrical with their short necks, 1 liter bottles with crown (you need a bottle opener, not a corkscrew) caps. In Wachau, most Gru-V wine is grown on steep, terraced slopes that have almost no ability to retain soil. Winemakers believe that the stress from lack of soil enhances the flavor profile of Gru-V. Our wines are white with a slight very pale green tinge to them
Read more

Wineries and Wine Clubs

Wineries treat their wine club members well. At least most of them do. And, they should.  Think about it. A wine club member is an automatically repeating customer. And, in being automatically repeating, these are not just any wines, these are the sought after, usually higher priced, limited production wines.  Wineries have three kinds of direct-to-consumer customers: those who come by the winery or buy through the winery website and buy once, those who are fairly frequent customers, but on their own schedules, and those wine club members who get multiple bottles of wine at scheduled times during the year and frequently buy more.  Frankly, it's a symbiotic relationship. The winery gets a group of loyal customers. It gets predictable purchases from a dedicated group. The wine club member gets access to wines that other might want and some other special perks. Some give occasional gifts, some give free shipping, almost all give discounts, and if you visit the winery, you likely get t
Read more

Mount Veeder

Bordering Los Carneros and almost directly to the north, what a difference a few miles makes. Today, we are in the Mount Veeder American Viticultural Area (AVA). The ride here takes only 15 minutes and if there were a raod that would take us directly, it might be only 5, but the terrain. climate, soil, and virtually everything else about Mount Veeder makes it unique. Likely the single most unique thing about Mount Veeder AVA among the Napa Valley appelations is the slope of the hillsides. When we visit the other mountain AVAs within the broader Napa Valley AVA, we see some pretty steep slopes that grapes are growing on -- 10 degree grades, 15 degree grades. In the Mount Veeder AVA, that would be looked at as perfectly flat. And, that is what makes Mount Veeder different. The typical 30 degree grades make access difficult. When we think about what a 30 degree slope really means, consider what it is like to get mechanical equipment into the vineyards. For the most part, it's just not
Read more