Cretan wine is wine from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. It has a long history since wine was certainly being made by the Minoans since the Bronze Age. Wines from

are not listed among those specially prized in classical Greece, but under the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

in the 2nd century AD Crete was known for a sweet wine, ''protropos'', which was exported to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

In late medieval Europe, in the 14th to 16th centuries, ''vino di Candia'' (

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

is modern day Candia) and ''Crete'' are wine names listed as highly valued in several sources from western and northern Europe; they were sweet and "hot" wines (hot in a dietary sense). Within the current classification of

Greek wine Greece is one of the oldest wine- producing regions in the world and among the first wine-producing territories in Europe. The earliest evidence of Greek wine has been dated to 6,500 years ago

there are several Cretan appellations, including Peza, Archanes,

Dafnes Dafnes ( el, Δαφνές) is a Southwestern suburb and community in the Heraklion regional unit on the island of Crete, Greece. It is situated 18 km Southwest of Heraklion at an altitude of 320 meters on a ridge in the eastern foothills of the 2 ...

and Sitia.

Soil

The combination of particular varieties placed in a unique terroir results in original flavour and perfume to Crete wines. This distinct terroir is a result of calcisol soils in mountain ranges and characteristic Mediterranean climate: the limestone lands range from denser clay to sandy loam, allowing the vine roots to grow deep, reaching water and mineral resources in depth; the weather provides hot and sunny summers and mild, rainy winters. Finally, the north of Africa provides hot winds while the Aegean Sea in the north, the cooling breezes.

References

Greek wine Ancient wine Medieval wine

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

{{Wine-region-stub

Soil

See also

References