The best wines from Greek Thrace in Greece

The Greek province of Thrace is a wine region that is thousands of years old. At the end of the last century, the vineyards were almost all cleared. In recent years, new plantings have been made. From a mix of Greek and international grapes, mainly red wine is made in Greek Thrace.

Greek Thrace is located on the border with Bulgaria, which has a wine region of the same name. When Odyseus traveled through Thrace, he was offered the local wine by Maron, the priest of Apollo. The wine was spicy and honey-sweet. Today, most wine from Thrace is red and dry, made from both Greek and French grapes and often sold as table wine.

There is a reason for this. The vineyards of Thrace had almost completely disappeared at the end of the last century. They had been cleared and planted with other crops such as tobacco. In the last twenty years or so, the dark red soil has been attracting interest from winemakers again. Several vineyards have been restored and planted with indigenous white and red grapes such as Zoumiatiko, Roditis, Limnio and Pamidi; and with international grape varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Malvasia, Syrah, Merlot and Grenache.