Greek Cheese Tasting in Athens

Cinque Wine and Deli

Cinque is a Greek wine bar group in the old centre that has built a menu of seated cheese tastings, booked online with a date and time.

• Greek Artisan Cheese Tasting: eight cheeses from small family producers, with handmade chutneys, pita, water and printed notes, and a guided tasting with questions. About 1.5 to 2 hours, from €33. Enough for a light lunch or early dinner.
• Cheese Clock: eight Greek cheeses set out like a clock face, each paired with a 40 ml pour of Greek wine. About 2 hours, from €50.
• Greek Feta and White Cheese Trio: sheep's milk feta, goat's milk feta and barrel-aged feta with toasted bread. 25 to 35 minutes, from €12.
• Greek Honey and Cheese Tasting: three Greek cheeses with four honeys. About 1.5 to 2 hours, from €29.

Tastings are non-refundable, though you can ask to change the date. Cinque Monastiraki, at Voreou 10, is open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 to 23:00; Cinque Psirri, at Agatharchou 15, opens Tuesday to Saturday from 18:00. Both are a few minutes' walk from Monastiraki metro. Check which location runs your tasting when you book.

Kostarelos

The Kostarelos family has made cheese since 1937, and its barrel-aged feta matures at the dairy in Markopoulo, in the Mesogeia wine country east of the city. The dairy has a shop and a tasting room, with tastings by appointment through [email protected]. In the centre, the Kostarelos delis at Patriarchou Ioakeim 30 to 32 in Kolonaki and Karagiorgi Servias 3 to 5 near Syntagma sell its fetas, gravieras and other cheeses; the City of Athens guide counts 14 cheeses at the Kolonaki shop, from two gravieras to four fetas. There is also a shop at Athens airport for last-minute buying.

A Cheese Plate With Wine: Heteroclito

Heteroclito, a wine bar at Fokionos 2 near Syntagma, serves a Greek cheese plate of three cheeses (200 g) with bread, dried fruit and jam for €14, alongside a long list of Greek wines. Open Monday to Thursday 12:30 to midnight, Friday and Saturday to 01:30, and Sunday from 18:00.

Food Tours With Cheese

Athens Food on Foot's Classic Food Tasting Tour (€68, 3 hours, 9:30 from Monastiraki Square, up to 14 people) goes through the Varvakios central market and a run of Greek delis where Cretan cheese is among the tastings. Athens Walking Tours, Context Travel and The Tour Guy run similar morning food walks that include Greek cheeses. Most do not visit the market on Sundays, when it is closed.

Tips

Book Cinque's tastings a few days ahead in summer. If you want to see cheese made rather than taste it, head out to the islands: Naxos and Sifnos both have farm cheesemaking.