A group of islands off the west coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea. The islands were settled in the 9th century B.C. by the Ionian tribe, which had been pushed away from the mainland by war and gave the islands their name (see also Attica). For four centuries, between 1386 and 1797, the islands were ruled by the city-state of Venice, and this Italian influence is still noticeable today. The mild climate of the islands makes them ideal for viticulture, and there is also sufficient rainfall. There are many autochthonous grape varieties such as Agiomavritiko, Areti, Asprouda, Avgoustiatis, Goustolidi, Katsakoulias, Korinthiaki, Pavlos (Malvasia Bianca Lunga), Robola, Skiadopoulo and Theiako Mavro. Vineyards can be found on Ithaca (where the Homeric mythical figure Odysseus was king), Kefallonia (the only one with POP appellation), Corfu, Lefkada, Kythera, Paxos and Zakynthos. The vineyards cover a total of around 8,700 hectares of vines. There are numerous other islands on the east coast of Greece; see Aegean.
Greece map: By Pitichinaccio - own work, CC BY 3.0, link
edited by Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer 2/2018
For my many years of work as an editor with a wine and culinary focus, I always like to inform myself about special questions at Wine lexicon. Spontaneous reading and following links often leads to exciting discoveries in the wide world of wine.
Dr. Christa Hanten
Fachjournalistin, Lektorin und Verkosterin, Wien