After three days tasting at the very well organised 11th Thessaloniki International Wine Competition I was keen to get outside the hotel, albeit the very comfortable and smart Hyatt Regency, to see some landscapes, some vineyards and even some wineries. I had been invited to visit the Alpha Estate winery in Northern Greece. Alpha Estate is in Florio, in Macedonia to be more precise, up near the border with Albania, Macedonia (FYROM) and Bulgaria and it is a mountainous, high-altitude area so we were told to expect snow. In fact the previous Monday it had been minus 3o C! Snow was not something I had planned for when I imagined my trip to Greece in early spring.   more »