number 1?

MEEEEEE NOOOOOOO into “politic”………………………..

No way #3! QOTD – I think Gary said it. Tie in the marketing to the US vision of Greece. Great with fish, right off the beach, pull them right out of that economic problem.

top 10 ALRIGHT!

Interesting dicussion about the weight. I remember about 10 years ago when I was first getting into CdPs that I very much liked the fact that THEY were brighter and lighter than Cabs, Bordeaux etc but still packed in the flavor. To this day I actually wish that wines were NOT alcoholic so that I could drink more for the taste.

QOTD: #3

OMG GV at 6:32 on is too much to handle. One of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

GV – You are right on about drinking white and tasting red… I've unconscioulsy been doing that for the past 6 months or so now…

Nice to have U on Thunder Show Markus….Have Greek friend since 5yrs old. Parents brought over (don't ask me how) grape vines to grow and make wine (STRONG !!) every year for last 35 years.

@MarkFitzpatrick

I’ll drink ta dat!!!

Cool show, great to see some Greek wines, gotta try some.

is that bruce willis?

Really interesting show, and now I'm intrigued engough to want to try, especially the last red (that I can't pronounce or spell)! The key word I heard from GV was “balanced”, and that is EXACTLY what I look for in wine, and especially in reds that make them more versatile and easier to enjoy.

Thanks for the great show, and get some of those wines @ Wine Library if possible!

great show. For me it fell apart on the finish a little bit with the naked salesmanship on the QOTD. But other than that the guest was an interesting chap and the wines definitely peaked my curiosity. I do have one major beef though: GV – You have to stop with the finger drumming!!! It is getting worse every episode. You hardly used to do it at all and this show I had to check the address bar because I thought I had landed on a Blue Man Group video by mistake. Please, your mad skills can handle the gig solo. you don't need a percussion backing track.

I am sorry you felt that way about the QOTD. This was not my intention at all. I cannot sell any wines to Gary or Wine Library (3 tier system), which was why I thought this was a “save” question to ask. I was really only interested to see what the viewers would think about the different wines in a context of selling them to the end consumer (from an end consumer viewpoint). Thought this might provide me with some insight. I am really sorry in case I did not make that clear enough.

Interesting show, I don't think he looks like Bruce Willis, aside from the fact that he is bald. That third wine sounds perfect for me, Zin and Pinot?? Sign me the Fu*k up!

QOTD 1: I completely forget, tweeted once then got a bunch of weird people following me.

QOTD 2: If I were Gary… hmmmmmmmm, I would stop interrupting guests!!! That last wine seems like it would have a lot of appeal in the US market. I would have to do a lot more research to fully answer that question. In order to gain recognition you first have to recognize the varietal/label. This will be difficult for Greek wine. Its all Greek to me!

QOTD: Just like with anything, quality to price would be the biggest factor. Greece has zero rep for good wine, so I'm guessing aggressive pricing would be the best way to squeeze into the market.

I wouldn't mind seeing just about every cheap Argentinian malbec replaced by something else on the store shelf. I was just subjected to another blatantly horrible Malbec today. 2006 Barking Sheep. If you hear sheep barking, run the other way. That wine was horseshit.

I don't normally use Twitter. The Xinomavro sounds interesting and something that Gary would push to more adventurous wine drinkers. I know almost nothing about Greek wine so this was a good episode. But there needs to be an easy way to remember the grapes from Greece or people will be too intimidated to buy them.

Sorry, gotta say it again; too many guests.

I know not everyone dislikes the guest episodes, but a fair number of us do, and without too much whining we really were told there would be fewer of them this year. And, so far, not so much. I suppose my main problem with these is that they're generally as much or more about the wine *business* as they are about the wine itself. For people who are interested in business, that's great. For those of us who find it insanely tedious, once again, not so much.

Would love to welcome you in Greece – let me know your travel details, hope it will work out mstolz at elloinos.com

QOTD: I'd be interested in the 1st and last one. It seemed like the middle one didn't have as much appeal. Had a Greek Rose' about 10 years ago(can't remember the producer) might have started with a K and was definitely made with the Agiorgitiko grape. Definitely would think about getting in some of the Rose's from Greece.

Mr. Chatter-box today, GV 😛

I love to see the different varieties coming to the table.

QOTD: I just added you, Markus, on Twitter. @adam976 is my handle, but I am not on there very often. I would probably go with the Tetramythos Malagousia for the white just because of the price point and I know of many people who would rather have a quaffing wine. I would add the Uranos Xinomavro just to ride the Pinot wave. If I were running a business, that would be my reasoning.

In retrospect my criticism was a bit hasty and harsh. I apologize for jumping to a conclusion. We vayniacs are just so spoiled by the fact that GV has kept the show pristinely free of salesmanship, so sometimes we are overly protective of that quality. I will say that your passion is obvious and that it is clear that you are in this primarily for the love of the vine. We respect that greatly here in GV land.

With the niceties out of the way you can be honest though Markus. Tell us: The table drumming has to have driven you crazy didn’t it? You can be completely honest. Gary doesn’t even read these comments and I’m sure no one would tell him if you said it bothered you. I need some back up here.

Great show! Really enjoyed learning about the greek varietals. I've had a white wine from Santorini recently that was an intriguing play, smelled like cheese, pretty interesting. I definitely want to explore more greek wines. I'll have to be on the lookout for some of the red wines.

Great show. I really think this one could have been a two part show. Very interesting hearing about new wines. I am making it point to pick up a Greek wine this weekend. Hopefully I can find one.

Vielen Danke, Herr Stolz, and efharistoa!

I'd been familiar w/ the very pleasant Nostos wines for years, and in fact, enjoyed, comparably, the Cypriot Othello, and Hatzi-Michalis wines years before that, when my employer (a small specialty distributor, mostly into Belgian ales) picked up Keo's offerings. I know, I know, the huge wine concerns were out there ages ago, and most of the stuff was…. well… you know. When I got into retail, late 90's, I saw marked improvement in the offerings of Ribolla, Assyrtiko, a wine of Ktima (name is eluding me) and learned of Moschofilero, Agiarithiko, and that Italian Aleatico originated in the isles as well.
QotD – I'd found that, clearly, people are receptive to the lower end price points, so in order to make them move, they have to retail as far below $15 as you can get them. Don't kid yourself on this. I've been attentive, passionate, and good in this capacity, and I have good descriptive and language skills w/ the public. If this sector (Greek) want the growth that it deserves, the public really wants the sales know how to say that it is truthfully good wine (especially for fish, oktopus, lemon… all those beautifu islands!!!), AND they really want the friendly, NOT intimidating price point to get them into the market segment.
Good Luck! Greece, and all of those wonderful Greek families deserve it! OPA!