Wine Tasting in Athens Greece with Athens Wine Tasting

Are you looking to add a wine tasting in Athens Greece to your vacation plans? In addition to taking an Athens food tour, tasting local wine is the perfect way to discover the local culture during your trip to Athens.

Wine tasting in Athens - a large wine glass filled with red wine.

We were invited to review this Athens wine tasting by Athens Wine Tasting. All opinions are our own.

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Wine Tasting in Athens

We enjoy good wine and love tasting local varieties when we travel. We have attended wine tastings and even made our own wine at home in Paris. One of our favorite foodie experiences in Myanmar was tasting wine at Red Mountain Estate.

Since we live in Paris and get to drink tasty French wines regularly, we didn’t know what to expect from Greek wine. We had never tried it and it is lesser known than French wines. Spoiler alert : it is really good! Now is the time to start getting familiar with Greek wines. We are sure we will be seeing more Greek wines bursting into the International market soon.

Wine Tasting in Athens Greece : Wine tasting under the Acropolis – A Virtual Tour Over the Attica and Greek Vineyards

We were invited to participate in a small group wine tasting with Athens Wine Tasting. We felt like we were in a swanky wine bar with the added bonus of an expert teaching us about each wine.

Each tasting is typically for a small group (upto 12 people). You can also ask to organize a private wine tasting if you prefer.

Doorway of the Athens Wine Tasting space

Learn to taste and evaluate wine

During our wine tasting, we learned to taste and evaluate the wine we were drinking.

We also received paper and pens to take wine tasting notes.

Some wine tasting essentials :

How does it look? What is the intensity? Note the color and viscosity.
How does it smell? What is the intensity? Are there fruity or herbal scents?
How does it taste? Note the sweetness, acidity, tannins, alcohol percentage and body.

Wine tasting in Athens - several wine glasses on a table and a glass of red wine

Try a selection of Greek wines

We tried Greek white wine and Greek red wine during our wine tasting experience. We tried 3 white wines and 2 red wines.

Greek White Wines

These are the white wines we tried.

Wine 1 : Savvatiano Papagiannakov (2018)

Smell & taste : citrus, peach, banana, apple, white flowers and herbs.

Wine 2 : Santorini wine

Smell & taste : pear, lemon & smoke.

Wine 3 : Malagouzia Gerovassileiou

Smell & taste : very fruity but also dry, floral, fruity, jasmine, bell peppers, peach, pear, oregano, melon & mango.

Greek Red Wines

These are the red wines we tried.

Wine 1 : Nemea Palivou (Palivos Estate)

Smell & taste : black cherries.

Wine 2 : Naoyssaia (Fountis Estate) Macedonia (2015)

Smell & taste : sour black grapes, sun dried tomatoes, black fruits, blackcurrant, peppercorn, mushroom & truffles.

Sample Greek cheeses, cold cuts and olives

During the tasting, we loved trying local Greek cheeses, a variety of cold cuts and delicious olives. We especially loved the strong and salty white cheese on the bottom left side of the photo below.

Wine tasting in Athens - a selection of Greek cheeses, cold cuts & olives with bread on a wooden cutting board

Related : How to Say I’m Hungry (learn to say “I’m hungry!” in 21+ different languages, including Greek)

Take a virtual tour of Greece’s vineyards while tasting wine in Athens

During the wine tasting, we took a virtual tour through Greece’s vineyards. We learned so much useful information about each wine.

When the grapes are harvested to make each wine.
How old the vines are.
What you can eat with the wine.
How long you can keep a bottle of each type of wine.

Understand the positioning of Greek wines in the International wine market

Greek wines are generally lesser known than French, Italian, South African or US wines worldwide. It is the perfect time to try Greek wines and to start learning about them. I bet they will be playing a larger part in the International wine scene soon once they start being exported more.

Share the experience with fellow wine lovers during a wine tasting in Athens

Our wine tasting group was small and it was fun to discuss our first impression of each wine we tasted with one another.

From tasting wines, to trying the local Greek food specialties, it is more fun to share the whole experience with a group!

Wine tasting in Athens - Greek cheese on a wooden cutting board

Related : Greek Appetizers (8+ amazing Greek appetizers you can make at home!)

Ask questions and get answers from a certified wine expert

Our wine expert was very knowledgeable about wine and it was a pleasure learning from her. She spent extra time with us answering our questions. We love to bring wines back with us from our travels for our wine refrigerator so we were especially interested in knowing how long we could keep each kind of wine.

Learn more about Greek wines with this book.

Wine bars in Athens

Once you’ve attending a wine tasting in Athens and learned how to taste and evaluate different wines, why not go out and explore a few wine bars in Athens?

By the Glass

You will have 60+ wines to choose from at By the Glass. This wine bar is close to Syntagma Square and the National Gardens.

Cinque

Cinque is in the hip neighbourhood of Psirri. There are fewer wines to choose from here but the wine list includes Greek wines from some of the lesser known vineyards.

Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro

There are 350+ labels to choose from here. Plus, you will have the option to order half glasses, making it possible to order more wines. Vintage also offers a fabulous menu so you can enjoy a creative and unforgettable dining experience too.

Oinoscent

This wine bar in Athens, just steps from the Acropolis and Syntagma Square, offers an International selection of wines as well as lovely little bites to enjoy with them. The ambiance is cozy and intimate.