Greek Disco's

I haven't been to Greece (properly) for many years, we did stop in Corfu for a day on a cruise once but I don't really count that. I think the last time I holidayed there was probably in the 80s when I was in my 20s and I went on a boys holiday to a place called Agios Nikolaus which is  on the Eastern side of the Island of Crete, we had a great time, sun, sea and big mountains! The place sticks in my mind to this day. When planning our Family holiday this year I thought it would be nice to revisit Crete, take our kids (who are now more or less the same age I was when I last there) and see how the place has changed, for better or worse. So, I booked a nice hotel near to "Ag Nik" and we headed out for a week in the Sun.

We landed at Heraklion airport on the Northern coast late in the afternoon and a small van (there were 5 of us) picked us up and took us to the hotel, it took about an hour but gave me a chance to reacquaint myself with the dramatic landscape and impressive "heat" of the island and also to be thankful that since I was there in the 80s a new motorway had been built and had decreased the journey time by more than half. When we arrived at our residence we were greeted by the staff there (I'd forgotten how friendly Greek people tend to be!) the welcome was very warm and the hotel and grounds were gorgeous, our younger contingent were so excited that, before unpacking, they immediately changed into swimming costumes and jumped into the sea! It was like they were small kids again, we ordered a cold beer and sat by the beach watching them having fun in the bath-warm sea, they were so happy, we reminisced about simpler times.

Last time I was in Greece I don't think I had a single glass of wine (just ice-cold lager in the bars and discos of the town!) this time around I was determined to remedy this and to try a few of the Greek wines that have, by all accounts, come on enormously in the last decade or so. At dinner that evening I had a good old chat with the hotel Sommelier and we lined up a couple of different wines to try. A couple of reds and a couple of whites later our favourite by far was a white wine made in Santorini from the Assyrtiko grape (see picture below), it was delicious, dry, rich and deep with flavours of honey, apricot and citrus and boasting impressive minerality, a truly world class wine.

Assyrtiko was a grape variety we kept coming back to throughout the week as we tried different examples of it from both Santorini and also Crete itself, it became our "team favourite" and now that I'm back in the UK I'll absolutely be seeking some out!