Prelude to an Assyrtiko tasting organized by Cinque Wine Bar (Athens, Greece)

Cinque Wine Bar continues to have and hold a warm and cuddly place in my heart. A Winelover group visited Athens in early 2016 to celebrate one of our acclaimed anniversaries. Brandon Tokash and I arrived in the afternoon prior to the start of the official proceedings and decided to do dinner that evening. 

Author and Brandon Tokash

Later in the evening we were joined by Sharon Parsons, Lidia Rizzo, and Sarah May Grunwald and, during the course of our wine-fueled conversation, Sharon mentioned that she had been contacted online and invited to pay a visit by someone from a Cinque Wine Bar. We did not have any scheduled events until the evening of the following day so we "offered" to accompany her. It was a deal.

On the day of the visit, Brandon and Lidia left early to explore so Sharon and I agreed to meet them later at Cinque. We took a taxi at the appointed time, struggled a bit getting there, but eventually made it. It was love at first flight.

Evangelie Tseliou and Greg Prassas (owners) are the nicest people you will ever meet; and their wine and food offerings and suggestions are stellar. We became fast friends immediately and ended up spending most of a fantastic day at their establishment. 

From left: author, Sharon, Brandon, Lidia, Greg

Brandon, Lidia, Sharon, John, Parlo, and I had made arrangements to spend three weeks in early autumn of last year with Greg and Evangelie at their Athens and Mykonos locations and for some winery visits but the pandemic got in the way.

Anyway, when Evangelie approached me and asked whether I would be willing to participate, along with a number of other Winelovers, in a Zoom Assyrtiko tasting, I jumped at the opportunity. One of my favorite people would be mailing me multiple bottles of Assyrtiko -- one of my favorite white wines -- at no cost to me, so that I could commune in real time with some of my favorite winelovers. This was a no-brainer.

There was some delay in receiving the wines but this only heightened the anticipation. By the way, all of my fellow attendees were equally excited about participating and were equally effusive in expressing their appreciation for the opportunity that Evangelie, Greg, and Nikitas had afforded us. After all, we were spread around the globe. And they had to coordinate the logistics, follow up with recalcitrant customs brokers, and uncaring bureaucracies, coordinate speakers, etc. They did an awesome job.

I will cover the actual tasting in a follow-up post.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme