Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-10

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Oenorama 2017 wine exhibition begins in Athens this weekend

[02] Refugee cookout steals the show at 19th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival

[01] Oenorama 2017 wine exhibition begins in Athens this weekend

Talking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), Oenorama's organiser Dinos Stergidis said the first Oenorama in 1994 was dominated by the four or five big private companies in the sector and some cooperative wineries.

"Today the large firms are framed by dozens of smaller ones (mostly vineyard-winery concerns, the so-called estates), while they have also adapted the range of products they offer to the current reality. They have invested in more and smaller-scale commercial brands, rather than the 'mega-brands' that dominated the market in the early 1990s. As regards the winery cooperatives, these have unfortunately collapsed barring a very few exceptions," Stergidis said.

He noted that a lot had changed in the interim, in connection with both the image of Greek wine and in the attitudes of consumers and their demands.

"Today most visitors to the exhibition taste without swallowing - in the same way as professionals - while there are many that make notes about the wines they taste! Greek wine has changed, it has had a renaissance, and with it the consumer public, which has become more sophisticated and demanding. It is an exceptional combination of supply and demand that generates great promise for the future of Greek wine," Stergidis said.

This year's exhibition builds on the gains made by its predecessors, with continuous improvements, and what it offers will reflect the "phase of maturity" that Greek wine is now entering, he added.

Stergidis pointed out that the country's better-known wineries were now established in all the mature foreign markets and were now trying to break into new markets, such as the Far East, Eastern Europe and even Latin America and Australia.

"For this reason, the visit this year of buyers from Japan and Korea through an initiative organised by Enterprise Greece is very important, since it covers precisely this need," he added. At the same time, many importers of Greek wine were looking to expand their portfolio with the addition of more specialised products, such as lesser-known grape varieties or wineries with very small production.

"We cover this need, to differentiate themselves from the competition, at Oenorama through the "Wine Revelations" room where the wines that many foreign buyers call the 'top obscure wines' are presented," Stergidis said.

[02] Refugee cookout steals the show at 19th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival

During the event, called "Food Uniting People #With Refugees," the four men from the refugee camps of Volvi and Alexandria cooked and served quzi, falafel and kibbeh.

Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), 18-year-old Ahmet Obeyid from Syria said he participated because he wanted to show the culinary wealth and culture of his country, but also to thank the Greeks for their friendly attitude towards them.

On the same note, 43-year-old Yazidi Hadir Abbas, father of seven children, said this was an opportunity for him to thank Greeks.

The cookout was organized by the UN Refugee Agency and the Festival's organizers.

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