Chardonnay Mencia Rum Greece Macedonia Drama

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

It is difficult to categorize rum as a single spirit, because of all the spirits found around the globe, rum is perhaps the one which varies most dramatically from place to place. Clear, white rum - a favorite for cocktail drinkers - is perhaps the most prevalent example found today, but there is a whole world of darker, spiced and molasses-rich rums to explore, thanks to the fascinating history and wide reach this drink has.

Rum came about during the colonial times, when sugar was a huge and world-changing business. The molasses left over from the sugar production industry could easily be distilled into a delicious alcoholic drink, and provided extra income for the sugar traders. Before long, it became a favorite of sailors and transatlantic merchants, and it quickly spread across the Caribbean and Latin America, where it remains highly popular today.

The production of rum is a basic and simple one - you take your molasses, add yeast and water, and then ferment and distil the mixture. However, as is often the case, the devil is in the detail. The variation in yeasts found from place to place, the maturation period, the length of the fermentation and the type of stills and barrels used provide the rainbow-colored variation that gives rum its spectrum of styles and characteristics.

As one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world, Greece has millenia of experience and expertise when it comes to viticulture, and has developed a set of flavors and characteristics which are found nowhere else on earth. The ancient Greeks revered and deified wine, and were the first true innovators in the history of wine, adding everything from seawater to honey and spices in order to find exciting new taste combinations and aromas. Today, Greek wines are just as varied, although far more refined and sophisticated than their ancient counterparts. The practice of enhancing Greek wines with aromatic substances never left the country, though, as can be seen in the popular Retsina wines, which use pine resin to provide their unique taste and aroma combinations. There is far more to Greek wine than merely Retsina, however, and the vast variety on offer is a testament to the expertise of Greek wineries making the most of the wonderful climate, terrain and grape varietals they work with.

The Greek wine region of Macedonia is one with a very long and troubled history, and the beginning of the twenty-first century saw winemaking there almost disappear forever. A combination of political upheaval, war, mass emigration and the devastating phylloxera epidemic devastated this ancient wine culture, but enormous effort over the past one hundred years has seen a truly impressive revival of one of the Old World’s oldest homes of fine wine. This massive investment and the dedication of both local and international winemakers and businesspeople has restored the glamor to Macedonia, and taken it to the world stage with renewed gusto and confidence, on the back of excellent and uniquely Macedonian produce.

The region of Macedonia is split into several sub-regions, but the most famous and widely renowned is that of Naoussa, which is located on the beautiful slopes of Mount Vermion. There, the fine, mineral rich soils, and the cooler climatic conditions result in a delicious set of full-bodied, richly flavored and complex red wines made from the region’s native grape varietal: Xinomavro. This grape can be found all across Macedonia, and the wines it produces range from the strong and densely flavored, to lighter bodies varieties and sparkling wines. Vintners in the region have also found great success with imported French varietals, and Macedonia continues to go from strength to strength.