Agiorgitiko (ah-your-YEE-tee-koh)

The name, in Greek, means St. George’s grape. An important, widely planted Greek grape, it is the source of Nemea, a spicy, earthy wine from the Peloponnese peninsula. The grape variety has nothing to do with the rootstock called St. George.

Long before the French appellation system was established, the monks of Burgundy had already begun to characterize the region’s vineyards and the quality of wines that came from them. Which of the following were the three categories used by the monks to differentiate wines?

A. Wines for every day, wines for cellaring, wines for kings

B. Wines for monks, wines for cardinals, wines for popes

C. Wines for merchants, wines for farmers, wines for magistrates

D. Wines for monks, wines for popes, wines for kings

The wines from the lower part of the slope, which suffered the most rain, were known as cuvées des moines, or “wines for the monks.” Wines from the top of the slope had the least rain, but there the sun did not have a solar panel-like focus. These were called cuvées des cardinals, or “wines for the cardinals.” And last, wines from the preferred middle belt of the slope, which had perfect sun and the right degree of rain runoff, were called cuvées des papes, or “wines for the popes.”

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