The Best Wine & Deli in Athens

Cinque's
Christmas
Tastings for 2024

Join us this Christmas for a merry mix of spectacular Greek wines and elevated pairings! 🍷🎅🏼

This holiday season, we invite you to experience a refined celebration of flavors in 2 exceptional wine pairings. Our first tasting promises a mouthwatering combination of luxurious Greek Jamón Ibérico and exceptional, aged Greek wines, creating an unforgettable experience of elegance and flavor that will elevate your Christmas gatherings. For those with a penchant for sweet indulgence, our second tasting presents the comforting, nostalgic flavors of melomakarona and kourabiedes – two of Greece’s most cherished holiday desserts.

Our first Christmas-exclusive tasting features 3 premium red wines and a Greek Jamón Ibérico. The Syrah Collection, produced from a single, carefully selected vineyard, is limited to 600-900 bottles annually. With a deep red color and a complex bouquet of black fruit, spices, and chocolate, this wine offers rich, concentrated flavors and a powerful structure. The ultra-premium Cava Driopi by Tselepos Estate showcases the best Agiorgitiko from select vintages, with careful viticulture and a lengthy aging process of 48 months. This ruby-red wine offers rich aromas of red fruits, eucalyptus, and spices, with a powerful tannic structure and complex finish. The third wine of this tasting, named after the ancient region of Opuntia Locris, Opus ιβ’ is grown on the slopes of Mount Galanos, benefiting from unique terroir. Handpicked from low-yielding vines without irrigation, it undergoes traditional winemaking techniques and 12 months of aging in French oak and then a reductive aging of 36 months. The aromatic profile is multi-layered, offering delicate red fruits such as cherry, balanced with notes of tomato leaf and light earthy tones.

One of the standout pairings in our Christmas Wine Tastings is an amazing Greek Organic Jamón Ibérico, crafted with care on the slopes of Mount Lapitha in western Peloponnese. This delicacy, made from the heritage Sus mediterraneus pig, one of the oldest breeds in the Mediterranean, is a true feast for the senses. The jamón is rich in monounsaturated fats, similar to those found in olive oil, and packed with proteins, vitamins, and essential minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium. A multiple award-winner at the Athens Fine Food Awards, this jamón offers a unique, nutty flavor that reflects the natural, free-range methods used in its production. With each bite, you’ll experience the richness of its traditional production process, making it the perfect complement to our carefully selected wines.

Samos Grand Cru is a classic Vin Doux Naturel, with a beautiful topaz color and a harmonious, intense aroma. On the palate, it is fresh, sweet, and perfectly balanced with a refreshing acidity. Made from well-ripened Muscat grapes from carefully selected semi-mountain vineyards, it captures the distinctive characteristics of the Muscat grape variety.

Samos Nectar is made from overripe, sun-dried grapes and aged for 6 years in oak barrels. Its deep amber color with orange highlights is complemented by aromas of raisins, dried fruits, honey, and nuts. With a good acidity and a long finish, it offers complex flavors of caramel, butter, raisins, walnuts, ripe orange, and even cloves, all woven together with a remarkable minerality. On the palate, it surprises with freshness, making it a standout choice for any table.

The Samos 1963 is a remarkable aged sweet wine from the island of Samos, with a history that spans over five decades. Aged for 61 years in small oak barrels, this dark, elegant wine is a true testament to the incredible aging potential of Samos’ Muscat grapes. It offers a complex bouquet of chocolate, roasted coffee beans, spices, molasses, smoke, honey, nuts, and dried figs. This rare vintage, produced from the exceptional 1963 harvest, is available in a limited number of bottles, making it an exclusive treasure of Greek winemaking history.

Our second wine tasting is accompanied by melomakarona and kourabiedes, two iconic Greek desserts with rich histories. Melomakarona traces its origins to ancient Greece, where it began as the “makaria” offering after funeral ceremonies. Over time, it evolved with the addition of honey, creating the sweet, spiced treat enjoyed during the Christmas season. Kourabiedes, on the other hand, are almond shortbread cookies with Persian roots, known for their rich sheep butter flavor and dusted with powdered sugar. Both desserts, steeped in tradition, are the perfect complement to these sweet wines.

As we wrap up this festive tasting experience, we invite you to savor the warmth and joy of the season with every sip and bite. Whether you’re indulging in the rich flavors of our wines or delighting in the sweet holiday treats, it’s the perfect way to celebrate with friends, family, and fellow wine lovers. Here’s to creating wonderful memories, toasting to good times, and sharing the spirit of Christmas with those who matter most. Cheers and Merry Christmas! 🎄

Of course, we’d be elated to guide you through our curated selection of greek delicacies in person. After all, Cinque Wine & Deli is all about creating connections over a glass of good greek wine, discussing the sensory extravagaza over rows of glasses ready for wine flights and answering your questions with our expertise and experience!

Visit us today and let us whisk you away on a gastronomic adventure through the treasures of Greece. Cheers to good food, good company, and unforgettable memories! Yamas!