Greek Wine Adventures in the Upper West Side
Written By: Romany Reagan on Tue, Nov 20th 2007
I went to see "The Chaos Theories" by Alexander Dinelaris the other evening on the Upper West Side. A friend of mine had produced it, I really knew nothing about it, but I always get all bouncy about comp tickets. Luckily for me (& the friend I toted with me) the play was phenomenal. The company will be producing another of Mr. Dinelaris' plays in Los Angeles - keep an eye out for that, he's a wicked good writer. There was no wine at the show - in lieu they had complimentary cosmos. I actually ended up making said cosmos as the front of house staff was rather at a loss. My bartending skills are epic, which I have mild fame for on the Lower East Side, so my friend asked me to come to the rescue. Happy theatergoers abounded. The Upper West could really use a little more Lower East. Oh wealthy people, they're so cute & excitable.
We went to a Greek restaurant with some of the cast after the show & ordered some rather forgettable wine, but it didn't break the bank, which is getting rather fragile & breakable lately... I did not recognize any of the options on the menu so didn't think the money was worth the gamble. It wasn't until I was outside that I noticed a banner over the door announcing they would soon be hosting a Greek Wine Festival. I thought that was funny because I had always heard that Greek wines were rather, well, I don't want to offend anyone, but... bad.
Then I thought the fact that I thought that was funny, well... was funny, because Greece is the birthplace of our wine lore-ancient Greeks, who with wine, are a permanently fused duo. So what's up? My ex-boyfriend toured around Greece a few years ago & came back telling me Greece's wine was some of the worst wine he had ever had. There has been a story floating around that the reason for this bizarre tragedy is ancient conquerors (perhaps when the Ottomans took over) who poisoned the earth in jealously to cripple Greece & make their grapes undrinkable. This was my assumed answer to the question until this banner sparked the conversation amongst my friends.
Upon coming home I scoured the internet, but haven't seen any mention of the story, so alas it must be just a rumor. Sad thing too, because it adds so much tattered romance to the whole tale. From what I gather the Ottomans simply taxed them out of production, driving winemaking into the monasteries, thus making the industry die out. Hardly a dramatic & glamorous crime of which to be a victim - a story scarcely fun repeating, let alone putting on heavy rotation at dinner parties. Perhaps someone along the way got creative with the history book. Greece is also the birthplace of playwriting; if they weren't packing a punch with the current plot, why not switch it up? Well, whatever the reason, I won't be embarking on that particular world again without a guide. I suppose it's rather like venturing north of 14th Street.
