Cretan wine

Cretan Wine

When we first came we were warned that Cretan wine was not as innocent as it may seem. The wines tend to be drunk when young and only special wines are laid down for any period of time. The latter are found in specialist wine shops in the cities, otherwise are bought from the supermarket or someone in the village. The supermarkets have a wide range of wines of differing prices, some quite cheap, but very drinkable. The village wines can be bought from the local kafenion or someone in the village, either way, it will come in old plastic water bottles or containers, but vary from verey drinkable to what can politely described as needing an acquired taste. Last but not least…and to be most wary of, are the wines bottled locally without labels and available from local tavernas. They are very palatable fortified wines of God knows what proof, and likely to do damage to head and/or stomach.

With renown Cretan hospitality it is not easy to decline the offer of these fearful wines. Personally, I have rather a liking for “Gazoza”, the local non-alcoholic fizzy drink …. But of course, there’s also Amstel, Mythos, Zorba and many other beers to try