We don’t have to love every wine we taste. In fact, after 20 years in the wine trade, it would probably be rather suspicious if we did.

However, when The Wine Merchant magazine asked the Shenfield Wine Co. team to take a closer look at Greek wine for its Tried & Tested feature, it gave us a good excuse to revisit a country that hasn’t traditionally featured particularly heavily on our shelves..

 

As such, Nish, Richard, Penny and Jos sat down with a selection of bottles and tasted them properly. And the results were…mixed! Some divided opinion, some took a little getting used to, and a few genuinely surprised us.

 

Did Greek wine surprise us? The short answer is, yes!

Greek wine has certainly been attracting more attention in recent years, but for many UK wine drinkers, it remains relatively unfamiliar territory. Part of that comes down to the grapes themselves. While names such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Malbec and Pinot Noir need little introduction these days, Greece has hundreds of indigenous grape varieties of its own. Assyrtiko, Xinomavro and Agiorgitiko may not roll off the tongue quite as easily, but they produce some very distinctive wines – and three of them featured prominently in our tasting.

So, did Greek wine completely win us over? Not quite. There were wines that divided opinion and others that took a little getting used to. But there were also a few that genuinely surprised us and made us think again about what Greece might have to offer. Here are Nish’s favourite picks from the tasting:

Santo Santorini Assyrtiko

This was one of the real standouts, with Nish describing it as having “lots of personality”.

Assyrtiko is probably Greece’s best-known white grape and is particularly associated with the volcanic island of Santorini. The wine is fresh and bright, with citrus and stone-fruit flavours alongside a distinctive mineral, almost salty character. There’s plenty of acidity too, giving it a lovely crispness without making it feel thin or simple.

That freshness and salinity make it particularly good with fish and seafood. Grilled sea bass, prawns, calamari and shellfish would all be very much at home alongside it, as would dishes involving feta, lemon, olives and fresh Mediterranean herbs.

 

Kir-Yianni Xinomavro Rosé

Xinomavro is one of Greece’s most important red grapes, but it can also make some very interesting rosé, as this bottle from Kir-Yianni demonstrated.

There’s plenty of fresh red fruit here, with strawberry, raspberry and cherry alongside a little floral character and refreshing acidity. It has a little more substance and personality than some of the very pale, delicate rosés people have become accustomed to, while remaining fresh and easy to drink.

It’s a useful food wine too. Try it with grilled prawns, salmon, charcuterie or Mediterranean salads, or simply put it in the middle of the table with a good selection of mezze.

 

 

Kir-Yianni Naoussa Cuvée Villages

Sticking with Xinomavro, this time we tasted it as a red, and it shows a very different side to the grape.

There’s red cherry and berry fruit, but also more savoury and earthy characteristics, a little spice and good acidity. Xinomavro is naturally quite a structured grape, so there are tannins here too, making this a wine that really benefits from having something alongside it.

Lamb would be an excellent match for this wine, whether roasted or grilled, as would beef, aubergine and richer tomato-based dishes. Moussaka, unsurprisingly, would do the job rather nicely!

Kanakaris Agiorgitiko

Agiorgitiko offers another side of Greek red wine altogether. Generally softer and fruitier than Xinomavro, this was one of the more immediately approachable wines in the line-up.

Expect ripe red and dark berry fruit, a little spice and relatively smooth tannins, resulting in a rounded red that doesn’t ask too much of you.

That also makes it particularly versatile with food. Grilled or roasted meats, meatballs and tomato-based pasta dishes would all work well, although it would be equally happy alongside cheeses, cured meats and a selection of mezze.

 

So, are we Greek wine converts?

Perhaps not quite yet.

But that was actually one of the interesting things about this tasting. Trying wine shouldn’t simply be about confirming what you already know you like; sometimes it’s about encountering unfamiliar grapes, and finding things that aren’t necessarily for you. And occasionally that also turns into discovering something that makes you reconsider.

Greek wine is certainly different. With grape varieties that many of us rarely encounter elsewhere and a winemaking history stretching back thousands of years, there is an enormous amount to explore. And while not every bottle earned a place on Nish’s list, these four certainly gave us something to think about.

Perhaps we’ll have to make a little more room for Greece on the shelves after all…

You can read Nish’s original Tried & Tested feature on page 54 of in the August 2026 edition of The Wine Merchant.