Liquid Assets

I never cease to be amazed at all the weird and wonderful wine from smaller countries. A few weeks ago, Chronicle Food Editor Virginia Wood asked me to help pick some wines for an Eat, Drink, Watch Movies dinner at the Alamo Drafthouse benefiting the Capital Area Food Bank. The movie was My Big Fat Greek Wedding with food by the Pyramids restaurant. The wine clearly had to be Greek. Unfortunately, Greek wine has always meant one thing -- retsina. For those who've missed the opportunity to savor the qualities of a retsina, imagine cutting down a young pine tree and licking the sap off your saw blade. Delicious thought?

We needed something scrumptious to go with the event, so I started searching for good Greek wines available locally. I ran into some luck when I found that a distributor from Chicago was importing Greece's most popular brand, Boutari. The label was founded in Naoussa, Greece, in 1879 by Yanni Boutari. Greeks have been making wine for 28 centuries, so 1879 isn't all that old. Nonetheless, given all the changes in taste and politics, I think 124 years is a pretty good track record. What I wasn't prepared for was the high quality at bargain prices.

After tasting everything Boutari had available in the market, I picked four wines that I think you'll enjoy. Few, if any, of these will be available at your standard grocery store. Your best bet is to go to a specialty shop and have them order some for you. At these prices, making new wine discoveries becomes a fun sport.

Boutari Samos (saum-os): For dessert-wine lovers, it's time to rejoice. This wine is made from muscat blanc and bears more than a passing resemblance to France's famous Muscat Beaume de Venice, a wine that generally sells north of $25 a bottle. Samos is jammed with apricot and caramel aromas and is an unbelievable bargain at just $4.25 per bottle.

Boutari Kretikos (kree-tee-kose): A lovely white wine made from the vilana (veh-lah-na) grape. It's light with a delicious crisp acidity, which makes it very food-friendly -- especially with vegetarian cuisine. $7.75 per bottle.

Boutari Moschofilero (mo-sko-fee-le-ro): I fell in love with this fruity white wine, made from the moschofilero grape. It is light and dry, and matches perfectly with moussaka. This wine is somewhat suggestive of Caymus Conundrum, a wine that costs $24 and requires five grapes to match the complexity. $9.99 per bottle.

Boutari Nemea (na-may-ah): Nemea is made from the agiorgitiko (ah-yee-or-yee-teek-oh) grape, which yields a smoky, spicy wine with a little touch of vanilla aroma. Besides the complex flavors, this wine has a gorgeous, dark ruby color and a soft feel. It is perfect with lamb. $8.99 per bottle.