I’ll be cheering on Greece for this summers Fifa World Cup, not only because I was recently on holiday in the largest of the Greek Islands, Crete, but because I have drawn the Hellenic Republic as one of my two teams to win the tournament in our family WC draw. If Greece fail, I have a good back-up for which I should feel even more confident – Brazil.

I was as much looking forward to getting a taste of the Greek culture through their food as much as their wine. My girlfriend, Bronagh, and I managed to explore much of the Greek cuisine by ordering mezes, which are essentially snack size portions of larger meals, not unlike Spanish tapas. This was a dream for us. We love variety and every time we order two different dishes in a restaurant we split them right down the middle to share.

I would highly recommend cook book Vefa’s Kitchen if you’re interested in finding out more about Greek food. It’s a collection of all the classic dishes including the numerous mezes. My time in Crete reminded me just how good Greek cuisine is. It really is up there with Europe’s other great food cultures, including France and Italy, but be warned, too much Moussaka will pile on the pounds!

Wine wise, the stuff that came in the Carafe at €5 per litre was pretty foul, but hey, you get what you pay for, especially if you’re ordering in a restaurant, although the red was better than the white. Here’s two I brought back to our self-catering apartment, both from the Lyrarakis winery near the Cretan capital of Heraklion.

Lyrarakis Plyto 2007

Described as “one of the oldest and most famous Cretan varieties, which in recent years has been in danger of extinction…. Straw yellow colour, intense aromas, particularly of citrus and exotic fruit.” There was a real lack of freshness about this wine. In fairness, I think it might have gone past its best, I suspect largely because it had probably been stored on the same self for a long period of time in hot conditions. It’s a problem I also fear with some of the wines stored in shops and supermarkets in Ireland, but that’s a blog post in itself.

The Plyto was quite high in acidity with a touch of citrus fruit, but it was quite bland and tasted a little bit like swimming pool water. Some of the better characteristics made me think Pecorino, and like Pecorino, Plyto is certainly a food wine in my opinion. I paid €11.90 for this in one of the local “tourist trap” shops and later realised I’d been screwed when I was checking out the duty-free on our departure. The 2009 vintage was available for circa €8.50. I would have no issue looking at this wine again provided it hadn’t been cooked on a shop shelf and was priced at the more reasonable €8-10.

Lyrarakis Kotsfali 2008

This was actually rather good. Again, I paid a premium buying it near the hotel, but it was available in the airport for €4.99. Kotsfali is also indigenous to Crete and makes rich wines that can be quite high in alcohol (this one was a moderate 13%). It was browny-red in colour and had aromas and flavours of baked red, brambly fruit. Bronagh thought it was quite like Tempranillo, just not as good. Again, probably better with food. Mediterranean, oven baked dishes would work well.

When it comes to international wine awards, Greece has done quite well. Both of the above have had their own recognition in the past and whilst I’ve only dabbled in what their wine industry has to offer, I would certainly encourage the curious minded to explore further if the opportunity arises. Next month we’ll be trying a Syrah blend from mainland Greece, so watch this space. Yiamas! (cheers)