Greek Wine Appreciation Workshop Suggested 4-day programme
Greek Wine – Appreciation Workshop, Andros
An opportunity to learn about Greek Wine in a charming
luxury-villa setting in Andros during four full days
In recent years Greece has been hitting the headlines in international wine challenges. As well as all the usual international grape varieties such as Shiraz, Greece has over three hundred indigenous grape varieties. Over the course of two Wines and Tours Master Classes, we will be exploring the characteristics of the five most famous of them: In whites, Assyrtico, Moschofilero, and Malagouzia. In reds, Agiorgitiko and Xinomavro. We will also be exploring some of the less famous indigenous grape varieties such as Robola, a white grape grown almost exclusively in Kefalonia, and Fileri, a red grape which is grown in a very specific part of the Peloponnese.
Originally conceived as a scheduled wine tour with fixed dates, this presents you with a wonderful opportunity to choose your own dates. Based in a luxury villa, about 15 minutes (by car) from the ferry port at Gavrio, we offer a specific pre-planned programme, starting on a Monday afternoon arrival and finishing the following Friday afternoon – when you will experience a good blend of Greek wine appreciation, gastronomy and relaxation!
We will visit some Greek wineries and taste their produce. One will be in Andros and we will visit at least two in the neighbouring island of Tinos. A delightful and educational part of our Workshop will be a Greek Food and Wine-pairing dinner.
Andros is a lovely island with lots of holiday activities on offer. Participants will be able to buy an additional three nights at the villa to soak up the holiday ambience of the island and possibly enjoy some of the excursions that we will offer. These will include a conducted hike along the forest land of the island and a visit to a modern Tsipouro (strong distilled spirit) factory near the island’s capital city, Chora (which is 32 kms East-South-East) of Gavrio (ferry port) on the North West coast.
How to get to Andros:
From Athens International Airport (called Eleftherios Venizelos Airport), KTEL public buses run northeast direct to the Rafina Ferry Port. They run regularly every hour and the journey takes about 40 minutes, for around €3 per person (one way). Once at the ferry-port, ferries to Andros (operated by Cyclades Fast Ferries OR Golden Star Ferries) run twice daily. The Aegean Sea crossing takes about 2 hours one way and the current one-way cost for foot-passengers is about €23 per person.
The best time to visit Andros is between May through to October. August is usually very busy with holidaymakers, but a good choice is September when the wine harvest starts.
In offering you the flexibility of dates – we must have at least 90 days-advance notice to secure availability. We also need a minimum of six people to run this wine tour viably, which might be ideal for a group of friends, or a wine society of universities or members of other wine orientated organisations.
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Here follows our Suggested 4-day programme:
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Arrive at the ferry port of Gavrio from 2pm onwards or later in the afternoon of a Monday and we will arrange to drive you to your luxury villa about 15 minutes north of Gavrio. After you have settled in and freshened up, relax by the pool prior to an evening drink with us and a buffet supper.
On Tuesday morning after breakfast, at about 11am we’ll discuss ideas about what we will be doing over the next-few days and play a little “blind-taste” guessing game on the origins of various wines to see if you can recognise which are Greek and which are from other parts of the world. We’ll have lunch at the nearby “Steki tou Andrea”, a restaurant that produces its own wine. Most residents of the island in fact produce their own wine. In the afternoon, we will proceed to our first Masterclass on Greek Wines. In the evening, a relatively light supper is planned after the substantial lunch at “Steki tou Andrea”. We’ll have some free time at the Port of Gavrio.
Next day breakfast, we will set off for a visit to a winery on the island, have a tour of the winery and a wine tasting. We’ll have a “brunch served at the winery”. In the afternoon, we will move on to our second Master Class of Greek Wines. In the evening you will be treated to a food-and-wine pairing dinner where we will compare several Greek wines that one might choose with a particular-Greek meal.
Thursday is mainly an excursion day. We are going to take the ferry to the neighbouring island of Tinos where we are going to visit two or possibly three new wineries. Grapes are in part grown on a most unusual terroir amidst gigantic boulders. The area looks as if it is where the battle of the Titans took place. Together, we will choose some wines to take back with us to have with a fish supper at the villa.
On Friday, we’ll finish up with a tasting of some of the less known indigenous wines of Greece, before lunching at a nearby restaurant on a farm well-famed with the locals. The restaurant farms practically all-of its own food. We’ll see to it that you are taken back to the port of Gavrio in time for your afternoon ferry UNLESS……
UNLESS You choose to take the option of three additional days at the villa for €600 a room (€300 per person).
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What’s Included:
From your arrival at Gavrio port on the Monday afternoon to the end of the workshop on the following Friday afternoon included are: All accommodation, meals which include wine (except at breakfast), winery visits and tastings, any other visits, transport, and your workshop leader. If the three additional days are also booked, only the accommodation is included for those days plus return transport to Gavrio port on the next Monday.
What’s not included:
Flights or other transport to the tour start point and from the tour end point. Any discretionary tips. Any additional bottles of drink that you might wish to purchase for personal consumption later.
Bookings:
Bookings for your desired dates, contents and duration of your specified wine tour with us, must be made by email, or via the Booking form shown below on this page, subject to a minimum of 90 days-notice to admin@winesandtours.co.uk
Costs in Euros (€):
Our price guide for this 4-day workshop inclusive of accommodation, your wine tour guide and transport come to about €1200 per person based on two people sharing a room with a Single person supplement of €500. Cost of a further 3 days at the villa is €300 per person based on two people sharing a room. We require a minimum of 6 people to run this Greek Wine Appreciation Workshop and wine tour.
Once we confirm the cost of your specified wine-tour with us, your non-refundable deposit for €200 per person becomes payable. Upon receipt, we will confirm your hotel accommodation, your wine tour guide & transport arrangements. Payment is required by bank transfer, please.
We must have at least 90-days’ notice for every booking.
