Greek wine’s rich history and recent rebirth, and a sampling from one of its best new wineries

Greece has an illustrious wine­making tradition that goes back 6,500 years. The Greeks used to dilute wine with sea water (it was called thalassitis, from thalassa, the Greek word for sea) and season it with honey and resin. And Ancient Greece created the role of the sommelier. Mihalis Boutaris, winemaker for Kir-Yianni, says, “The oinochooi [literally ‘those who pour wine’] in modern Greece is still the term for the sommelier.” Wine was consumed at the symposium (...