Rant: A Flawed Greek Festival

Where's the Greek wines?

Yesterday, I visited a local Greek festival, interested to check out their Greek cuisine and wines. There were gyros and souvlaki, pastitsio and moussaka, loukoumades and baklava. A smorgasbord of Greek cuisine offerings. However, there were a just few wines displayed, and only one of them was Greek, an Agioritiko, the others being from California. Not displayed, though offered on their drinks menu, was a Retsina too.

Why would you offer California wines at a Greek festival???

The festival was intended to showcase and celebrate Greek culture, and I believe that should extend to the wines they offer as well. There is no reason why they couldn't offer only Greek wines at the festival. There are plenty of inexpensive, but tasty, Greek wines available if cost was an issue. And the attendees, many who are Greek, aren't there to enjoy a taste of California. They are there for a taste of Greece. As was I.

I've long been a passionate advocate for Greek wines, having written over 25 articles, and you can find links to all of those posts in All About Greek Wines & Spirits. There are so many reasons why you should drink Greek wines and we need to expose more consumers to the wonders of those wines. So, at a Greek festival, which is open to the public, it would be an excellent opportunity to showcase the intriguing wines of Greece rather than the wines of California. It could have been a teaching moment, to share the tastes of Greece, their unique indigenous grapes.

This would also apply to any other cultural festival, where they should be proud to offer only the drinks of their country or region. Whether the festival was Italian or Spanish, German or Chilean, there isn't a need to sell California wines when all of those regions produce an ample supply of delicious wines that reflect their heritage.

It is a simple thing, for a cultural festival to embrace their wines. A Greek festival should offer only Greek wines. Let's hope future festivals better understand this easy concept.