Because of the efforts of Markus Stolz, a German native living in Greece, more Greek wines are now being imported into the US. Stolz says, “One of the most exciting thrills for me has been to react to any developments that take place. I have received some serious interest from the US over the last 12 months, and I am delighted to officially announce a co-operation with WineWise, a well-respected American wine importer from the west coast. We have been working together ‘under the radar screen’ for some months in order to build up a solid portfolio of Greek wines for the Californian market. WineWise have offered Greek wines in the past, but have never directly imported them before.”

The first shipment of wines has now arrived and will be distributed. There are two offerings from the Tetramythos winery (in the Peloponnese), a Roditis and an Agiorgitiko, which are both entry-level value wines. In addition, there are two wines from the Domaine Karanika (in Macedonia) that are also included in this first shipment. A cool climate style Assyrtiko and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Xinomavro blend. This is the first time that Domaine Karanika has exported wine to the US.

Additionally, Stolz has worked with the importer/distributor Frederick Wildman to bring in a number of wines into the New Jersey and New York markets. The new Greek portfolio of Wildman consists of the following wineries (the ones with * were sourced by Stolz):

Aivalis Estate (Nemea, Peloponnese)*
Christos Kokkalis (Ilia, Peleponnese)*
Domaine Economou (Sitia, Crete)
Domaine Nerantzi (Serres)*
Domaine Zafeirakis (Tyrnavos)*
Katogi Strofilia* (Metsovo and Nemea)*
Koutsoyiannopoulos Winery (Santorini)
Troupis Winery (Mantinia, Peloponnese)

Represented will be new grape varieties that have never been exported to the US before: Limniona (red, from Zafeirakis), Koniaros (red, from Nerantzi) and a specific clone of Liatiko (from Economou).