Konstantinos Oikonomopoulos writes hi, I’m Dino! A passionate lover of wine and spirits, particularly Ouzo and Whisky. I can be found swirling glasses with flair, debating terroirs like a philosopher, or plotting my next escape to the sea. Aboard a sailboat or at a seaside taverna, I’m happy, where the horizon is wide and blue, and the wine is chilled. Fluent in fruity notes, dry humor, and Aegean breezes.
Ode to Assyrtiko
Upon the isles where sea winds sigh,
where cliffs kiss bold the deep blue sky,
there clings a vine, both fierce and bright
It’s Assyrtiko, the liquid delight
Born of ash and ancient stone,
carve songs where the winds blown
Assyrtiko, wild child of flame,
you bear the sun without a shame.
Your roots drink deep the saline dust,
your leaves endure Meltemi gust;
no tender vine, but wiry, wise,
you clutch the earth, you touch the skies
Your clusters, small, with armored skin,
Bear Aegean bottled deep within
a wine of lava, of smoke, of light,
a blaze that flashes clean and bright.
In every glass, the islands dance
the searing noon, the night's flash,
the whisper of volcanic deep,
the secrets that the old rocks keep.
you thread the soil, you flirt the sky,
You breathe the sea where seagulls cry
You taste like ash and salt and sun
You are the wine of divine fun
O Assyrtiko — majestic vine
you are the sea made into wine;
you are the thirst, the flame, the call
the timeless spirit, after all.
Upon Santorini's shiny crown
where the caldera cliffs plunge down,
O Assyrtiko you stand out bold
Bearing secrets of centuries old
O Assyrtiko dear ,bright and wild
Aegean’s Tiara, volcano’s child
You lift our spirits and our soul
You’re Greece’s gift to the world
The photo of Santorini's red beach is the author's own.
