For more than 20 years, with love, persistence, faith in organic cultivation and a spirit of creative experimentation, Nikos Afianes, a local Pharmacist, has been growing on the impressive granitic island of Ikaria the two local PGI grape varieties, Fokiano and Begleri.
In the course of making wines from experimental vineyards at different altitudes and different microclimates in the Western part of the island, a few innovative styles have been created in limited number of fine bottles from these two grapes. Nikos’ wines defend the term ‘fine’ with their elegance, long-lasting quality and development in time. |
Since establishing his winery in 1997 and with his very first cuvees, Christos Aivalis has reinvented the style of Nemea. A civil servant by daily occupation and profound wine lover has managed to transfuse this dedication to his son, Sotiris, now a most capable winemaker himself, who assists him in the winery. He has acquired old vineyard plots in the most admirable parts of the zone. The plants there are autochthonous and grow naturally without irrigation or fertilizers. Some of them are as old as 120 years and a good number is reaching the age of 70years. The majority of them lie at an altitude of 600m and over rock and fossilized soil. He produces all his Agiorgitiko labels with single-vineyard identification, to be able to express the different terroirs’ characteristics. He vinifies with natural yeasts and bottles all his red wines unfined and unfiltered.
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“Aoton” in ancient Greek defines the “finest specimen of its class” and represents a winery dedicated to the production of fine wines in the same location where three generations ago, the family winery “Patitiri” was the community’s local press of grapes from the surrounding vineyards. In the heart of Mesogeia, the middle landplane between Athens and the Eastern coast of Attica, in Spata, Sotiris Gkinis, a dedicated oenologist himself, has revived the 10-ha large family vineyard, which is producing low yield, high-quality fruit. His wines are made exclusively from the three local varieties: Savatiano, Roditis and Mandelaria and have become highly praised by the discerning palates.
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Michael Athanasiou runs his certified organic family winery and makes wines from grapes grown in the family’s estate around Ancient Nemea. He works exclusively with the indigenous grape varieties of the region and has been experimenting on the production of completely natural wine by Agiorgitiko in the last 9 years. 2016 Fysis is his first natural wine release and the first Agiorgitiko wine hitting the market containing 0% sulphites.
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Young winemaker Christos Barafakas with a degree in Agriculture returned to his family’s 14-hectare large vineyard in Nemea and established his winery in 2002. He has been one of the few new producers, who expressed the Agiorgitiko variety in fresh styles, without the use of ageing wooden barrels. His vineyard plots have a varying altitude between 280 and 600m above sea level, with plants ranging in age between 5 to 45 years and overall low yields, 6-9 t/ha. Although generally straightforward and practical in his approach, he has created some unique wines, such as “Thousand Years”, a blend of Agiorgitiko and Cabernet Sauvignon, suitable for ageing in the cellar and the boutique Phylacto, sun-dried Assyrtiko in very limited quantities, a “mini-Vinsanto” (with a twist, as aged in acacia barrels) to be found outside Santorini.
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Manolis Garalis is a third-generation viticulturist. With an ambition to see his high-quality organic grapes turned into first-class wine, he launched his winery in 2006 and released his first wines in 2007. He cultivates Lemnos’ indigenous varietals, Limnio and Muscat of Alexandria, over 5 hectares of certified organic sulphuric volcanic soil. Garalis’ approach is minimal intervention without any addition of yeasts or other additives, in order to express this unique island terroir in its purest form. Limnio is the oldest referenced grape in the world, mentioned by Homer, Aristotle and other ancient Greek authors as “Limnia Ampelos” and has been on the island for thousands of years. Muscat of Alexandria has become the main grape since the 1920s when brought by Lemnian immigrants from Egypt.
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Continuing a long tradition of winemakers, spanning over three centuries, the Gavalas family has been exclusively engaged with the vinification of a number of indigenous varieties grown on the island of Santorini.
They have been working particularly on the unknown varieties of Santorini, beyond Assyrtiko and they are the Santorinian winery with most wine labels produced by indigenous varieties, including the almost extinct Katsano variety, from which they produce a unique and notable white wine, capable of ageing slowly and gracefully. The combination of traditional and modern winemaking methods and the unique volcanic soil and open sea climate of the island assist them in producing fine and balanced wines of vibrant fruity character, refreshing acidity and unique minerality. Their Santorini Natural Ferment and Nykteri labels are very good expressions of the local star Assyrtiko variety, whereas their benchmark Santorini, in the iconic Aegean blue bottle, keeps on gaining fans. |
In the most remote and distant vinicultural region of Greece, in the North-West of the country, as well as the smallest PDO region to be found in Greece, Glinavos vineyards are located within the Pindos mountain range and around the old town of Zitsa, 17 km NW from the city of Ioannina.
They extend to approximately 60 hectares at an altitude of 650-700m, where the climate is predominantly continental with cold, early starting winters, cool summers and a good amount of precipitation. Here, the indigenous grape varieties “Vlahiko”, “Bekari” and above all the white “Debina” grow. “Debina” gives to the zone the privilege to produce wines of Protected Designation of Origin and traditionally sparkling. This sparkling wine style has been produced in the area for centuries and Zitsa receives a notable mention by Lord Byron in his poem “Pilgrimage of Child Harold”, written in 1809, during the poet’s visit to the local monastery. |
Markogianni Winery is a family business that has been active since 1982. Its main philosophy is respect for nature and the production of quality wines. In order to do so, the company's vineyards are cultivated organically and are certified by the DIO organization since 2001. In addition to their privately owned vineyards, the Markogianni Winery supplies grapes from selected vineyards in the greater area of Skillountia.
The mythical Alpheus River that separates Skillountia from Ancient Olympia has gifted the land with sandy loam soil and special climatic conditions, which are the parameters that seal and complete the personality of Markogianni wines. |
Award-winning Methymnaeos Winery was founded in the remote village of Chidira, in Western Lesvos in 1985, and is the first professional winery in the modern history of an island with an age-old winemaking tradition, dating from mythical times. Its operation is based on the principles of the exclusive use of the unique grape variety Chidiriotiko, native only to the island of Lesvos, cultivation on volcanic soil near the Petrified Forest of the island and organic viticulture and winemaking. Furthermore, because of the sulfur and sulfur compounds found in the soil, they have been first-hand witnesses of the natural protection against disease the soil provides, both in the vineyard as well as in the bottle, helping them to achieve minimal intervention and practically natural wines.
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Originating from a family of viticulturists, George Moraitis established his modern winery in 2000 in order to make a small selection of labels based mostly on the varieties traditionally cultivated on the island of Paros. The most important of these varieties is the aromatic Malagousia, which takes central stage in his white and rose labels. Breaking away from stereotypes, both in the winemaking and the presentation of his wines, he has created characteristic and personality evoking examples of Aegean island wines, pleasing and lasting at the same time. His vineyard and winery are certified organic and he applies minimal intervention in the winemaking. The total output of the winery is 25-30000 bottles.
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Evanthia Mitropoulou, a capable young winemaker has been working methodically in the last 15 years to establish the more than a 13-hectare large family-owned vineyard and to revive the two local varieties of Serres, Asprouda of Serres and Koniaros. Thanks to her and her father, Nerantzi, the varieties are now part of the national grape archive.
Only a stone’s throw away from the recently discovered ancient town of Amphipolis, landmark city of the Macedonian kingdom of Alexander the Great, which flourished in the 4th century BC, the vineyard is cultivated following the principles of organic viticulture and the wines are produced with minimal intervention and under organic certification. |
This historic winery in Nemea continues a family tradition of no less than 7 generations. Founder Thanasis Papaioannou has been the first winemaker who has seen the potential of Assyrtiko and has taken its cultivation outside Santorini, to be soon followed by a bunch of winemakers across the country, who developed the many styles of Assyrtiko available in Greece today. He also adopted organic viticulture very early on and it was the first private vineyard in Nemea to obtain organic certification over 20 years ago.
This work is now carried out faithfully by his son, Geoge, who oversees the cultivation of their family vineyards, mostly in and around Ancient Nemea and directs the winemaking process. Their wines are being produced by the exclusive use of own grapes, which controls their final quality significantly. They cultivate both Greek and international grape varieties and produce over 20 labels that are distinguished by their lively fruit, as well as a classic and balanced style. |
The winery’s founder, Aristidis Papargyriou, planted his first vineyards in 1978, with the aim to produce wines of high quality and distinctive character. He chose matched varieties with high potential for the region, such as Assyrtiko, Sauvignon Blanc, the local Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Agiorgitiko and Mavrodaphne. In the early ‘90s, the first Papargyriou wines were released. Yannis, his son, with studies in Agriculture and winemaking at the famous Wine Institute of Geisenheim in Germany, has been continuing his work since then and expanded the family’s vineyard, originally to be found near the village of Lalioti, Corinthia, 120km to the west of Athens, to a new vineyard site at Sofiana, Corinthia, at 800-900m altitude. This splendid new vineyard of 16 hectares is giving grapes of superior quality and has raised the production to around 50000 bottles yearly.
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The organic family winery is located at the foot of Mount Skolis, Santamerianiko Mountain, which dominates over the Castle ruins of Sant’ Or, built by the Franco-Flemish in 1273. In the historic Village of Santameri in Achaia, at 30Km from Patras and an altitude of 600m, the family vineyards cover an area of 4 hectares and grow the indigenous Peloponnesian varieties, Roditis, Agiorgitiko, Mavrodaphne and the unique local white aromatic variety Santameriana, that was revived, thanks to the efforts of the winery. Cultivation follows the biodynamic principles since 2015 and the wines are produced with minimal intervention and very low sulfite addition at bottling in the modern winery. The total output of the winery is 80000 bottles.
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Originally from Ano Vodeno of Eastern Romilia, an area steeped in viticulture, the refugee Tatsis grandfathers chose as their place of settlement during the population exchange of 1924 the small town of Goumenissa, an already developed viticultural centre that lies at the foot of Mountain Paiko, 65 km away from Thessaloniki. Since 1998 the vineyard is being cultivated and certified according to the regulations of organic farming and since 2002 follows the biodynamical principles. The vineyards are found on the hillock of Libaskerit and Gerakona, an ideal position for viticulture and the vines grow on calcareous, non-irrigated soil yielding a very modest production of about 3 to 7t/ha. All grapes come from the Estate, where also vinification and maturation take place.
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This organic family vineyard and winery lies at the 17th kilometre of the national road Sparta – Gytheio, direction Monemvasia.
It was from this region, according to the tradition, where the Byzantine emperor and the Court of Constantinople were supplied with wine. The first vines of the vineyard were planted at the beginning of the 20th century, by grandfather Nicolas. Today, with over 30 hectares of privately-owned vineyard, George Theodorakakos continues to cultivate the local wine varieties, Kydonitsa, the Peloponnesian Mavroudi, Monemvasia, Thrapsa and the widely known national grapes Assyrtiko, Rodites and Agiorgitiko. The winery was built in 1988 at the heart of the vineyard, outfitted with the latest equipment to support the production of high-quality wines, under the supervision of George’ enologist son, Nicolaos. Low yields, up to 8t/ha, contribute towards an excellent grape quality and the vineyards converted to organic farming in 1996. All the wines produced in the winery use exclusively grapes of the privately-owned vineyard. |
Nikos Vakakis has been one of the most important and largest viticulturists on the island of Samos with 3 hectares of the privately-owned vineyard and another 3 hectares belonging to the extended family. He owns some of the oldest vine plots in the entire Aegean region with autochthonous pre-phylloxera plants of Muscat a Petits Grains reaching the age of centenarians, whilst the altitude of the plots, ranging between 250 to 1050m above sea levels and the very low yields of 5t/ha are unique and impressive. His youngest vineyard is planted with the red variety Avgoustiatis, brought from the Western Peloponnese, and is now 15 years old. Viticulture on the island of Samos is very much traditional, with the vines growing in “masies” or terraces, very much in Oporto’s style and manual harvest together with the employment of mules for the transportation of the harvested fruit is the rule here.
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The winery sits at the heart of the 40ha large family vineyard in Gialtra, a small village of northern Evia, 14 km from Aidipsos Spa town. The vineyard spreads across the foothills of mountain “Telethrio”, next to Istiaia and the Aegean Sea, at an altitude ranging from 150 to 400m. The first plantings of mainly indigenous grape varieties were carried out by Konstantinos Vriniotis’s father. Amongst them, Vradiano is a rare and endangered Greek variety, only to be found in Northern Evia and due to its remote location and challenging access nowhere else in the world. The family has revived and cultivates the variety in the last 20 years, producing two monovarietal wines, the highly acclaimed Vradiano Wild Ferment, a highly extracted red, matured in French oak for 12 months and the unusual “herbal” and food-friendly rose, IAMA. The winemaking at the winery is a family affair, always done with care and the necessary help of modern technology with a human in command. Red wines mature in the winery’s own cellar and they are bottled unfiltered.
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Amorgion distillery has patented "Amorgion Rakomelo" in 2000, based on the traditional recipe of Amorgian vrastari (nostrum) that was used by the inhabitants of the island of Amorgos in the old days to relieve sore throats. Their drinks are being prepared with pure traditional ingredients and great care and contain no preservatives. After the great success of their first drink, they went on to create a couple more variations:
Amorgion Rakomelo: Made by raki, honey and 8 herbs that grow wild in Amorgos Amorgion Psimeni: Made by raki, sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Melikraton (oinomelo or mulled wine): Made by sweet wine (from sun-dried grapes), raki, honey and 8 herbs that grow wild in Amorgos. This type of drink was offered to men in ancient Greece on returning from war or work to restore their physical strength. |
Babatzim Distillery was founded by Anestis Babatzimopoulos of Stavros in 1875 in his privately owned vineyards in Delliones Selymbria (Ortaköy) in Constantinople (Istanbul). With the exchange of population in 1922, Mr Babatzimopoulos arrived in Chrysoupoli, Kavala, where he continued the distillery till 1937. Now the fourth generation of Babatzimopoulos family continue producing genuine and traditional ouzo and tsipouro varieties in Chrysoupoli, Kavala.
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Chios Mastiha is the name of a resinous sap produced from the mastic tree (Pistacia Lentiscus var. Chia). It is a natural, aromatic resin in teardrop shape that falls on the ground in drops from superficial scratches induced by cultivators on the tree’s trunk and main branches with sharp tools.
The know-how of cultivating Mastiha has been included by UNESCO on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. |
Polykala Distillery is a family-owned company, founded by Vassilis Polykalas. Mr Polykalas, vintner at the time, started collecting recipes of liqueurs from all the places he visited around Greece. By studying the ingredients, he found ways to make the recipes even better, and he recorded his fine touches in his secret recipe books. His restless spirit and his passion for discovery and creation led him to the founding of the distillery Polykalas in Lixouri, in 1897.
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