In honor of the Olympics, Eric Asimov set out to rediscover Greece's white wines for the New York Times. He found whites just subtly different from the made-to-be-drunk young bottles of Italy and Spain, fermented from "unfamiliar, indigenous grapes grown nowhere else." The moschofilero varietal dominated the tasting, including the panel's No.1 pick: a 2007 Tselepos that "smelled like roses and tasted like grapefruit."
Asimov noted that fewer wines were spoiled by the preservative sulfur dioxide than at his previous tasting 4 years ago. The alcohol content for many remained pleasantly under 12%, and freshness was never an issue. Ready the fish and the capers: Greek's whites join "the popular genre of cool, crisp, refreshing wines that immediately improve any Mediterranean-style meal." (More wine stories.)