Crete / Κρητη

Crete is the largest Greek island, with a total area of 8.335 km², it is 260 kilometres long and 60 kilometres wide, and is located at the southern entrance of the Aegean Sea. A mountain range going up as high as 3000 metres crosses Crete from West to East. In amongs the mountains are fertile valleys, wide plains and steep gorges. In ancient times, the island was the centre of the Cretan-Mycenian culture, fell into Roman hands in 67 BC, and was later ruled by the East Roman empire, as well as by Arabs, Venice and by the Osman empire. The island only became a part of Greece in 1913. Crete has one of the oldest wine-growing cultures, and it is thought that the first cultivated vineyards of the entire Mediterranean region were to be found here. An ancient wine press that has been dated to around 2000 BC was found during excavations in Vathipetro, close to the village of Archanes. The island was known as Candia in medieval times, the sweet wines made from Malvasia and Muscadel were shipped from the port city of Monemvasia (Peloponnes) to destinations all over Europe. The total vineyard area today is around 50.000 hectares, these are located mainly in the north of the island, where the vineyards are protected from the effects of the hot North African desert winds by the intervening mountains. Much of the vineyard area is devoted to the production of table grapes, nevertheless around 20% of Greek wine is produced here. The grape varieties planted are almost exclusively indigenous varieties, the most important are Kotsifali, Liatiko, Mandilaria, Romeiko, Thrapsathiri and Vilana. The island was spared the devastation of phylloxera until the mid-1970’s, most of the vines were ungrafted. Eventually phylloxera struck here, too, and forced a change to grafted vines. There are four appellations (OPAP), these are Archanes (red wine), Daphnes (red wine), Peza (red and white wine) and Sitia (red and white wine). The most important producers are Alexakis, Boutari, Creta Olympias Winery, Digenakis, Douloufakis, Ekonomou, Lyrakis, Minos Cretan Wines and Milliarakis.