It’s no surprise to me as, Yiannis Karakasis has done it again with his latest work, the excellent, “Greek Wine Explained” that’s been published for 2026.
I previously reviewed the 2024 edition which was at the time, one of the most useful publications on Greek wine. Thus it shouldn’t be a shock that Master of Wine, Karakasis has built upon this to provide an even more in depth and expansive edition.
For the general reader, the summary of news items, such as the collapse of the Santorini harvest for 2025 will be very useful as well as many others which work to round out the current situation for wine in the country. Additionally, the “ups and down” section is very important as Karakasis is realistic about the headwinds that face Greek wine at large, but it also happy to be a cheerleader for the industry–a most-needed position for any wine-producing country currently.
From there, we see some guest pieces and things get a bit more technical such as looking at terroir in the country as well as indigenous varieties. The latter was a pleasing read as it’s great to see that, at least for the wine trade and more advanced wine drinkers out there, these aren’t the ‘strange’ names that they once used to be as shown by the mass planting of Assyrtiko being a testament to that!
Sections four through seven offer a mix of information for both the wine drinker as well as the trade professional, looking at people, new wineries, and recommended wines that all sidestep an outright 100 point scale, but are still reviewed nonetheless.
The remaining portion of the report from page 136 to 152 is chocked full of useful information and reference that’s going to be of great benefit to anyone interested in the wines of Greece.
Overall, this continues to not only be the most up-to-date reference on the wines of Greece, but also shows the immediacy and use of the digital format in the wine world to stay current in what is a rapidly-changing and most-definitely bonkers period.
★★★★★
Review copy provided by the author
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