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EP 866 Expanding Palates with Greek Wines

Gary Vaynerchuk tastes 3 different Greek wines with Markus Stolz, a “Greek wine insider” and talk about the wine scene in Greece.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2009 Tetramythos Malagousia
2008 Nostos Alexandra’s
2007 Uranos Xinomavro play

Links mentioned in todays episode.


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luca bercelli

90/100

line of the day – ‘If you’re watching this in 2030 – can you believe how many Superbowls the Jets have won?’

I just love Germans when they speak English. The accent sounds funny to me. And a German speaking perfect Greek. A rarity and obviously a good guy

Tags: Greek, red, review, Video, white, wine, wines

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  • A very nice and interesting gentleman who knows his stuff and I bet can speak 4-5 languages? Three for sure which is quite an accomplishment to be from Germany, move to Greece and sell wines internationally plus the quality of his product seems to be quite good according to Gary.

    QOTD #1: Twitter = Dominus
    QOTD #2: I love da nose so the last one would be my preferred choice.

    Cheers!

    P.S. Gary rated the first one an “85” and no zoom in on da josey?

  • Darlene O.

    Great episode, Gary and Markus! Was in Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos a few years back and loved sampling the wines! Good to see an episode on Greek wines!

  • zrm

    Love having new area to explore and help expand the palate. I am HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the lighter on the palate reds. Light doesn't mean no flavor! There are some very interesting Higher end box wines that play to that flavor profile

    QOD: twitter me at zachmoller and I would look to alway bring in new interesting wines. and hey with the EURO crashing right now now is the time to get some new eurozone wines in that bring the thunder

  • zrm

    I hate the 3 tier system here in the US. But you were just being passionate about the wine you sell and like which is certainly understandable and absolutely forgivable

  • Fantastic episode! Markus, you answered some of the questions I never got a chance to ask you on Saturday. Your passion for Greek wines and Gary's enthusiasm are contagious. I wish I could have tasted all three of the wines you featured, but watching you describe the wines and talk about them was a good substitute… Not only will I actively look for Greek wines in the US, but I surely will pay a visit to some of these wineries very soon. Thank you dear Markus. Your work is much appreciated and valued by all… Yes, I am proud and I'm not even Greek!

  • Greeks make the best wine. As a matter of fact Greeks do everything the best, just ask one and they will tell you. LOL

    No really, great show. Greek wines are under the radar right now but I don't think it is because of quality. Education is the key. I had a customer the other day that won't but Greek wines because they contain pine tar. I explained that the bottles we had were produced in 2006 A.D. not B.C. and are not retsina wines.

  • Illegal_Formation

    Good point, Markus, about how it is nice to not have to work to drink wine. Sometimes you wanna work, sometimes you wanna drink; you shouldn't have to sacrifice quality for the latter. So, I guess my answer to QOTD 2 is the second wine – the Rhone style.

    QOTD 1: After seeing Gary's reaction to Markus's success with Twitter, I vow to never sign up with Twitter…out of spite.

  • corkscrew

    Have tired some Greek wines at expo's..not found many that brought the thunder. Good guest. http://www.winelx.com

  • FullOnNelson

    Great show! Markus, I would love to see more Greek wines in the local wine shops that I frequent.

    Twitter: FullOnNelson

    If I were Gary I would place all of the wines you brought to the show in the store. Each wine seemed to offer a unique flavor and wonderful drinking experience in various price ranges. Stepping out of Gary's shoes and into my own, the third wine “Uranos” sounds like the one I would enjoy the most.
    Back in Gary's shoes I say the biggest barrier for Europeans and Americans to learn to love and buy Greek wine is an intimidation of the wine caused by a language barrier. You are absolutely right that you need to create a market so that consumers learn about different varietals and then seek them out. Maybe you should make a movie called “My Big Fat Greek Winery”. 🙂 That's a play off of the Greek-American movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. You should watch it. My Greek friends tell me it's fairly accurate.

  • Great show! Desperately need to try more Greek wines. I love lighter reds.

    Twitter = ChrusKelly

  • Grill Factor

    Drinking Greek Moschofilero white wine years and years ago changed my white wine-drinking life. I can still remember the wine to this day. Twitter:

    BGRILLC

  • waynooo

    “Interviewicus interruptus!!”???????????? Wheeeeeeerrrres me dictionary ?????????
    :O)

  • ONUMello

    GV thanks!! Appreciate the shout-out!!!
    QOTD: My name here is my Twitter name (though GV butchered it: O-N-U for Ohio Northern University mello as in yellow)
    If I were GV I'd probably go for the third wine; he seemed to find it the most interesting

  • waynooo

    Yo G , We gonna have another “Blind Tasting” in me lifetime?????

  • CGESchiller

    Markus, well done. Congratulations from Germany

  • NY Pete

    GV is the real deal … that is all.

  • NY Pete

    we tasted a double blind tonight @ the tribeca grill … even G was stumped …

  • waynooo

    Yo cellarrat, Don't be Tweetin' da WEEEIIIRRRDOOOOOS………………. :o)

  • winecrazy

    Fo real yo!!!!!

  • winecrazy

    Next week..??? GOOD!!!! 🙂

  • NateHelgeson

    Been lurking for a month or so, finally posting. Love the show, especially the cereal episode. (lifelong fruity pebbles fan here)

    Vielen dank Markus – hoffentlich wird Deutschland endlich Weltmeister sein!

    QOTD: Echoing others' comments, if I could see a good (not necessarily ausgezeichnetes) greek wine on the shelves at a good price, I'd be in. Good wine is always worth a try. A semi-related question for GV, Herr Stolz, or anyone else: is there a good source of information on ancient greek wine? I would love to learn about what they were drinking back then…

    CKC, represent

  • waynooo

    The G “stumped”?????? NOOOO WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    :O) : O ) : O)

  • winecrazy

    I'm wit NY Pete on that one. Gary has a wikipedia wine mind. He knows his S***. It's almost like his brain is a computer and it just stores info about wine and then BAM…..it comes out with the flick of a wrist as soon as he looks at the bottle. Who the hell does that?

  • waynooo

    Yo G, Yooooou gooonnna take Thaaaaaaaaaaaaat ????????!!!!!!?????? :O)

  • Randall

    At least it wasn't the OTHER interruptus!! I don't think I would have stayed on for that… 🙂
    Seriously, though, Gary hit an all-time high in the absaposilutely #1 interview that I've ever seen him do w/ the Chaim show (inv. of CC cereal), and now has nosedived back into the bad old habit of CONSTANTLY interrupting his guest. But I don't think this will last, 'cause he's ON IT!! Too much caffeine today…

  • NY Pete

    congrats David!

  • NY Pete

    great show GV … that is all.

  • korkmiester

    Great Show Gary – our tasting group here in Sactown has done a Greek theme before. One red I really liked alot but can't remember the name now. We're really lucky to have Darrell Corti and their Corti Brother's Grocery store in Sacramento – I believe that's where most of the Greek wines came from for that tasting.

    Being Gary => b it red or white, Gary would choose to learn about a wine while tasting it

    Gary – ur on a roll, we learned alot from Markus in this segment, we're all learning about wine all the time – that's part of what makes wine so facinating. We trust your judgement(and your pallet…) to continue balancing viniferous guests with the art of solo spitting….
    Cheers! Twitter = Korkmiester

  • waynooo

    Yo Randall, Ya got ta admit, whether G is ON or OFF, da Show is FUUUUUUUUUUUUN
    TA WAAAAAAATTTTTCHHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Randall

    Corti Bros!! Korkmiester, I always thought Corti was mostly a regional thing around Sacto… Boy, was I ever wrong!! Darrell is THE MAN!! Like, world wide. And I've never been steered wrong in any wine question I've ever asked there. No upsale, just good honest, knowledgable recommendations.
    p.s. NorCal representin' on WLTV lately!!

  • Randall

    Oooohhhhhh Yyyeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • orangebottle

    GV you've geek it up with the Greek. This episode has opened my eyes about the Greek wine.
    thanks Gary and Markus. Any show i learned something it's a great show.

  • dsallen

    Loved the episode! Learned a lot.

  • john

    Gary likes to throw out a bunch of random show idea's and say he'll have …. (more guest, less guest, longer shows, shorter shows, no more ratings, okay rating are back on, etc) I've noticed his “daily blog” go to fewer episodes per week, and for awhile very short episodes like 6,7, 8 minutes.

    You really can't count on anything other than Gary putting on a show. My advice is to roll with it. It's entertainment 🙂 On a positive note, over the last few weeks he has been putting on longer and better show – great job GV

  • castello

    That helps. I usually look at your name and say something like GV said. Congrats!

  • castello

    I hope I never tweet toooo.

  • castello

    He must have been sniffing and spitting alot of green tea today. : )

  • Great show!

    Twitter = vanguy

    QOTD2: I think Gary would like to get that last wine on the shelf at $18-21.

  • teckdeck2008

    I love learning about wine from the unusual places. I'm definitely giving you a follow on twitter for that specific reason.
    Qotd1: teckdeck2008
    Qotd2: The last one sounded really good because I like bigger wines that show balance. I can appreciate the lighter ones if they have good flavors, but my preference has always been the big style of wine. That being said, I do think if I had to say which type would I try to push more, it would be like the second one, because lighter wines get over looked too much I think. I work in a wine bar and every one loves the stuff that is simple, big and smooth; mostly because its easy to drink which I can understand. But I feel like this causes those lighter wines to get overlooked as they try and expand their palette. Because you expand from the stuff you know, and if all you know is big it takes you a while to get around to the lighter wines. But thats just my two cents…I'll get off my soap box now :p

  • Loved the show!! Was surprised at the quality of Greek wine I tasted on the island of Santorini and in Athens… definitely better than the few Greek wines I've had here in the SF Bay Area.. Bring 'em on, Markus. We need more Greek imports.. such as the olive oil which is the best I've ever had but I digress…

    As far as Greek communities in the U.S: San Francisco, Boston, New York and Chicago (Greeks like to settle in port cities).

    QOTD: Would love to try both of the reds.
    Best wishes to you, Markus.

  • Just Jack

    Yes. Seconded

  • castello

    I'm speechless

  • Allan

    That's a first : )

  • Allan

    Very Exciting & expanding show G-meister! Your interview-skills have been top-flight lately!
    And….
    This is what this show is all about!

    Have had a couple of Greek wines, and they were quite allright : )

    Qotd: 1) No Twitter name for me. 2) All Three!

    Expandment complete…. Good job Markus & G.

    Salud!

    P.s. Yo G, when will i get a shoutout?

  • philoxera

    Buy Greek Wine Bozos…They need the export income. Good stuff too!

  • Germanchemist

    Hi Gary,

    great show! I could well imagine that you will be proud of this episode some time in the future because

    1) You are talking of an up-and-coming region
    2) I do strongly believe (and hope) that those big big over the top wines will be out, soon! Look at the alcohol levels of some Bordeaux 09s
    … I like the 13.5 wines much more than those 14.5-15 monsters!

    Take care
    Steven

  • Yes, sorry about that but see, it all goes back to education. I stand corrected in Massachusetts, USA, 7684 Kilometers away.

  • YoungDave

    @YoungDave
    QOTD: If I were Gary, it would depend on pricing of course, but it seems like the Xinomavro has the greatest potential to sell in the US market. The other red may be too light to gain traction here, especially if it is reminiscent of Boujolais as Gary noted. The white has potential only if there is an opportunity to bring it it at a price that would allow for a $8 shelf price.

  • RedRum

    I am greek myself (living in the UK) and I have to say that the best wines are kept in Greece… Because the production is not big, and costs are much higher than countries like argentina, chile, etc, greek wines are expensive. Some of the best wines are made in the north, in the region of Drama, the Bordeaux/Burgundy of Greece. Look for producers like Lazaridis, Gerovasiliou. In Greece I have tasted some great wines, but not BIG wines. We are still a bit far from producing big wines, like Spain, Italy, France, California. They are a bit pricier than New World wines, as I said earlier costs are higher (they truly are, not a marketing mark up, I have friends in the industry).

    Xinomauro is the most interesting local varietal, similar to Sangiovese. It is an ancient varietal, which I think it should be our main red, probably with a few blend, like the newer Piemond wines. Great job GV.

  • I was so enthusiastic being on the show, I honestly did not notice the table drumming. My brain was also occupied by responding to Gary’s questions/comments, I bet I would not have noticed even if he would have used a hammer 😉

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