Food/Wine Pairing: What with Greek Food?

WINE TALK
1

So, what wines (non-Greek) do folks pair with Greek food? Especially pork souvlaki rice and salad platter? [cheers.gif]

2

I’d go Greek xinomavro. Langhe nebbiolo would be a good proxy.

3

I’d try CdP.

4

Ouzo!

5

I like this suggestion for the Langhe Nebbiolo. Another thought would be Beaujolais from a darker fruit area like Morgon, Cote de Brouilly or Moulin a Vent.
A 2010 Foillard Morgon would work quite well.

You need something refreshing and not too complicated to really meld here IMHO.

6

In general, mineral-laden white wine if you’re going to have a yogurt/cucumber sauce. If no sauce, then I’d go for a light to medium-light bodied red – also minerally, and maybe ashy; a Mencia seems like it would fit the bill perfectly.

7

Assyrtiko! Has the structure to stand up to the pork. What grows together, goes together as they say.

8

Agree with xinomavro or Nebbiolo for red and Assyrtiko for white. The latter is also a beautiful pairing with seafood (if seafood is in the salad).

Cheers,
Doug

9

Have to agree with Jon on this one. I was turned on to Assyrtiko by a certain Philadelphia person who reviews Greek wine [wow.gif]
He gave me some suggestions and I ended up with Sigalas Santorini which, luckily, is available in the PLCB. Was really wonderful - minerally, lots of nice citrus flavors and maybe even a pinch of saltiness. Really a very nice wine to accompany Greek food. It’s about $20.

10

(insert game show wrong answer buzz here)

do folks pair with Greek food? Especially pork souvlaki rice and salad platter? > [cheers.gif]

11

champagne/sparkling!

12

Sigalas makes some great wines. I prefer their stainless steel bottling over the oak fermented which just masks the mineral, salty quality inherent in Santorini whites.

13

Totally agree here. Stainless bottling to me is much fresher and mineral.

14

I prefer the stainless Sigalas too, but these wines are ageable and I’m not quite yet ruling out the possibility that the oak-aged one will be longer-lived. I did get a chance to taste some with a few years of bottle age on them and can attest that the difference between the oak and steel versions decreases significantly during that time.

15

I’m surprised that this thread has turned into a discussion of Greek wines given that the OP asked about non-Greek wines.

Greek cuisine is Mediterranean cuisine with lots of olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, so a multitude of Italian wines would work well too, given the affinity of ingredients in Italy.

But the dark, austere, tannic and ‘wintry’ nebbiolo with summery pork souvlaki? No thanks. Nebbiolo is made for rich, earthy dishes and long hung game, not Athens street barbecue! Try something more juicy and fresh like a barbera or valpolicella or, as someone said, a Beaujolais or a less tannic Grenache.

While xinomavro can be phenomenal, and is very nebbiolo like in some respects, I wouldn’t pair xinomavro with souvlaki even among Greek reds. Maybe agiorgitiko from Nemea, which is more of a picnic wine and less serious.

16

Nebbiolo and xinomavro can be light on their feet. That is why I’d stick with a langhe nebbiolo vs. Barbaresco or Barolo. I had a 2010 Produttori di Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo with some cold beef salad antipasto last week. The langhe nebbiolo was a great pairing with a meaty but light-weight course.

I thought of the agiorgitiko too but no non-Greek equivalents came to mind. I like your valpolicella idea.

17

Thank you for explaining - this makes sense. I do find that nebbiolo, whatever the style, never fails to make my mouth water hungrily.

18

Would Pinot Noir work well with Greek food, in general??

19

Why the heck not Greek wine??? A nice Assyrtiko (Sigalas), as mentioned, or Moschofilero (Skouras) would work great.

20

Well said on both points. Greek food is generally wine-friendly mediterranean cuisine and you could go a lot of different directions in Spain, Italy, Croatia, Lebanon and southern France, if you weren’t going to go with Greek wines.