Reported by Dawn Harvie

Thanks to Richard Cassavant and Martin Carrière, who organized this event, a group of Guild members met at Theo’s to feast on Greek foods and wines. We were joined by Konstantinos Dikaros, First Secretary for Economic & Commercial Affairs at the Greek Embassy, as well as Steve Kriaris and Chris Stigas of the Kolonaki Group in Toronto. We started off with a slightly sweet sparkling with aromas and flavours of bruised apples and olive oil.

The three Sigalas Santorini were all equally good and, in general, votes were fairly evenly split with a few more votes for the 2003 and the 2004. The 2005 had some lemon and mineral notes on the nose and was very fresh and clean in the mouth. The 2004 had a very light nose. In the mouth, it had mineral notes and a touch of bitter almond. It wasn’t quite as crisp as the first. The 2003 had mineral notes on the nose, but opened up on the palate with some lemon. It was a slightly fuller/creamier in the mouth than the younger two wines. These wines were well-paired with a meze plate of Taramosalata, Calamari with Tsatziki, Dolmades with Lemon Sauce, and Shrimp with Feta in Tomato Sauce. The vegetarian option was a plate of Humus, Tsatziki, and Eggplant with Pita. Delicious.

The second course was a Lamb Moussaka with Greek Village Salad. The Ktima had lots of fruit on the nose with a slightly earthy/funky note. In the mouth, it was all raspberry and cherry fruit with clear hints of oak. The wine worked well with the Moussaka, but, not surprisingly, not with the salad! The vegetarian option was a Spinakopita that would have served well as the main course! Very tasty! Interestingly, it brought out the earthier qualities of the wine.

The next two wines were fantastic! The Sigalas ‘Mavrotragano’ was almost Shiraz-like. In fact, several of us thought that it would make a very interesting ‘ringer’ in a line-up of Shiraz’s. It was full of deep dark fruit, some spice, and a little earth. The wine had good complexity, nice tannins, and great structure. The Kir Yianni Ramnista had notes of tar and black fruit. In the mouth, it had lots of dark fruit, spice, leather, a touch of sweetness, and a nice velvety mouthfeel. Nice wine for the price. The main entrée was Exohiko (country-style lamb with kefalotiri cheese and herbs in filo pastry) and Oven-baked Corfu (pork tenderloin stuffed with spinach and feta) served with rice and Greek-style green beans. Incredulously, a few of the meat-eaters thought there was a little too much meat! The vegetarian option was grilled vegetables with a green salad and rice. As for wine and food matches—nobody was complaining—they were
busy eating and drinking!

The last wine was the dessert Sigalas Vinsanto which had a nose of raspberries and strawberries which translated very well into flavours in the mouth along with a nice sweetness well-balanced with a nice level of acidity. The dessert plate featured not one, but three different desserts: Vanilla Kadahifi (shredded pastry, custard, and walnut sprinkle), Greek Walnut Cake, and Mini Baklava. All were very delicious!

It was a wonderful evening. Thanks to Richard and Martin for organizing the event, and also to Steve and Chris for bringing in the wines from Toronto.

Sparkling

• Grand Prix Brut, 2005, Enoteca Emery, Rhodes Island (Mavrotragano) $15.95

Whites

• Sigalas Santorini, 2005, Santorini Island (Assyrtiko) $20.95
• Sigalas Santorini, 2004, Santorini Island (Assyrtiko) $21.95
• Sigalas Santorini, 2003, Santorini Island (Assyrtiko) $22.95

Reds

• Ktima Papaioannou ‘Old Vines’, 2003, Nemea, Peleponesse (Agiorgitiko) $29.95
• Sigalas ‘Mavrotragano’ OPAP, 2003, Santorini Island (Mavrotragano) $35.95
• Kir Yianni Ramnista, 2001, Naoussa (Xinomavro) $19.95

Dessert

• Sigalas Vinsanto OPE, 2003, Santorini Island (70% Assyrtiko, 30% Aidani) (375 ml) $31.95