Greece Mini Series: Women, Wine, and Movies - An interview with Wine Filmmaker Chrisa Giorgi
My Greek wine series overlapped with International Women’s Day, which provided the perfect context to interview Chrisa Giogi, a female wine filmmaker from the Greek island of Crete. With a background in Political Science and Political Analysis, Chrisa moved to the U.S. to study Marketing. While she was in the U.S., she started going to different restaurants and trying different wines, which encouraged her to study for the WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust). She earned her WSET Level 1, 2, and 3 and is currently working on her diploma. However, when Chrisa was studying for these certifications, she noticed that there was very little information about Crete in the curriculum. I’m fact, there weren’t many Greek wines mentioned at all in the curriculum. Chrisa decided to combine her journalism skills and studies in marketing to create a documentary about wines from Crete, called In the Wine Dark Sea (2021), which you can watch on Amazon Prime.
In this documentary, Chrisa, along with her all-female crew, interviews eleven different winemakers from Crete to showcase the fifteen different wine varieties that are being grown on the island. The documentary highlights the many microclimates of Crete, which are impressive for an island that is only 3,263 mi²/8,450 km2. Not only does Crete offer unique wines and microclimates, but it also is a great place for wine tourism. Many of the wineries offer tastings paired with food that is both delicious and affordable. With beautiful landscapes and amazing food, it truly is a bucket-list destination! After watching In the Wine Dark Sea, you’ll definitely want to move Crete up to the top of your travel list.
Chrisa’s documentary also focuses on sustainability, global warming, and how this is impacting the island of Crete. Chrisa interviewed professors from a university in Athens who spoke to the patterns of climate that are changing, which can impact the wine industry, and what grapes can be grown in that region. Though some winemakers in Crete acknowledged the changes due to climate patterns affecting their grapes, others did not think there was as much of an effect on their vineyards. However, upon reflection, Chrisa realized that the microclimates of Crete give a very different experience to each vineyard. These are the helpful insights that Chrisa can offer by combining local knowledge, deep research, and the synthesis of information from professionals in the field.
I was truly impressed with Chrisa’s documentary, especially since it was her first one! Though there were challenges along the way, especially with publishing, Chrisa pursued her vision to share the wines of Crete with a wider audience throughout the world through her documentary. However, Chrisa is not done making wine documentaries. She recently made a documentary film called Wine Hunter about a wine importer who decided to leave his job in Corporate America and follow his dream to become an Italian wine importer in the U.S. This documentary will hopefully be released in 2023 for us all to see! I’m sure we’ll see more amazing stories coming out of Wine Cellar Stories, the video production company that Chrisa founded.
To hear the full interview, listen to Episode 115 of the Wine CEO Podcast where Chrisa and I talk in more detail about Greek wines, her documentary In the Wine Dark Sea, and upcoming projects that Chrisa is working on. Make sure to subscribe to the Wine CEO Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts so that you don’t miss any of the upcoming episodes in this mini-series on Greece. Yamas!