Merlot Pinot Gris Robola Other Italian Reds 2010

With its dark blue colored fruits and high juice content, Merlot varietal grapes have long been a favorite of wine producers around the globe, with it being found in vineyards across Europe, the Americas and elsewhere in the New World. One of the distinguishing features of Merlot grapes is the fact that they have a relatively low tannin content and an exceptionally soft and fleshy character, meaning they are capable of producing incredibly rounded and mellow wines. This mellowness is balanced with plenty of flavor, however, and has made Merlot grapes the varietal of choice for softening other, more astringent and tannin-heavy wines, often resulting in truly exceptional produce. Merlot is regarded as one of the key 'Bordeaux' varietals for precisely this reason; when combined with the drier Cabernet Sauvignon, it is capable of blending beautifully to produce some of the finest wines available in the world.

The Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris grape varietal is now one of the most widely grown vines in the world, due to the surge in popularity of Pinot Grigio wines over the past twenty years or so. These grayish-blue fruits, which hang in their distinctively conical bunches, are responsible for a very broad range of wines famous for their variety of color tones and flavors Pinot Grigio varietal grapes are highly influenced by terroir, climate and particularly the skill and expertise of the vintners who process them. As such, there are full bodied, amber colored wines made from this grape, and there are equally delicious yet far leaner, paler, lighter bodied and crisp white wines made from the same species in other parts of the world.

In the mountains of Cephalonia, the mineral rich soils assist in the growing of one of the finest of Greece's white grape varietals – the Robola grape. These noble yellowish grapes are notable for the wines they produce, which generally contain summer fruits, peach and citrus aromas, coupled with flavors which extend beyond the usual range of white wines, revealing smoky and mineral notes, and a lengthy, lemony after-taste. These fine characteristics helped the regions it is grown in gain AOC status, and wine-makers in this area have many generations of practice in bringing out the elegant and subtle characteristics of this grape.

Robola, and the other wines of Cephalonia have a long and illustrious history, being mentioned even in ancient epic poems such as Homer's Iliad. However, it was the Venetians who first recognized the great potential of Robola grapes, which quickly became the focus for the areas wine-makers and tradesmen. Nowadays, Robola wines act as an excellent example of a refined Greek dry white wine, which can be either drank as a light and refreshing summer aperitif, or alongside grilled white meats, salads, or white fish. Robola wines, as a rule, do not age particularly well, and it is highly recommended that bottles are drunk young, within two years of bottling. By doing so, you can enjoy the unique characteristics of this remarkable wine, complete with the balanced combination of chalky, smoky citrus flavors and delicate peach aromas which typify the finest examples of Robola varietal wines.

Additional Information on Greek Wines