Sip your way through Greece at Thursday wine tasting

Yes, it’s right. You’re reading from me a lot sooner than you expected. But a fantastic opportunity awaits you at Craft’d in Morganton this coming Thursday, Feb. 12, at 5 p.m.

In last month’s column, I wrote about the dos and don’ts and general culture of wine tastings, all in an effort to encourage you to go to one! Almost as soon as that article went to press, I found out about an opportunity you do not want to miss: tasting four Greek wines, from the same historic winery, with personal anecdotes from the new owners at Craft’d, who were just there. Oh, there’s going to be a harpist, too!

I want you to go to this tasting!

Greece’s wines are among the most exciting wines on offer right now. In. The. World. Even the once-maligned Retsinas are singing these days, with resin collected from single-site forests. Tragically, we’re still not getting enough of Greece’s wines in North Carolina — and generally in the United States. But I’m so impressed by what I’m tasting, and I’m seeing new labels all the time, often labels I’ve only seen when I’ve been in specialty wine shops in Greece.

From my vantage point, the Greeks have very thoughtfully followed the successful rebranding of their country’s wine scene via the Italian model: make the best wine you can make, slash prices, entice consumers back from their biases, and then slowly start increasing the prices. Y’all. I remember when I could get a great bottle of Chianti for $15. Those days are long gone. But not in the Greek wine market! Prices are artificially low right now — except for Santorini Assyrtiko, which is a whole different story, and likely the propellant that has ignited the surge in quality and access to Greek wines. So, the time is right to explore the wines of Greece.

You have an excellent opportunity to do just that on Thursday, Feb. 12, at Craft’d. Craft’d will be hosting a tasting of four wines from Moraitis Estate, based in Naoussa. I have a particular love affair with the wines of Naoussa, but even I have not tasted several grapes that will be featured from the historic Moraitis winery. Moraitis, one of the oldest wineries in Greece and now in its fourth generation, is renowned for its attention to indigenous grape varieties — Greece has so many, and so I’m thrilled to taste several that will be new to me. We should all be supporting wineries that are dedicated to preserving indigenous vine varieties from extinction and keeping them on our palate.

So, I better see you there! Get your tickets (only $25!) by RSVPing to Laura at laura@craftd-nc.com.