Greece: Viticulture

The Greek land tenure system means that much of the vineyard area is in the hands of smallholders. Little by little, the large companies which buy in so many of their grapes have been working more closely with these vine-growers and promulgating more modern viticultural techniques. Grape prices were for long determined by sugar levels, which too often resulted in dangerously low levels of acidity, but these problems have been largely resolved by the big commercial concerns and the more modern co-operatives. The more ambitious of the small estates now practise thoroughly modern viticultural techniques.