I recently came across some wines of the Tetramythos Estate, and was captured by their personality. The winery is located at the stunning landscapes of Aegiala in the Peloponnese. The 14 ha vineyards are situated on the slopes of Mount Helmos, at an altitude of 450 – 1050 m, making this one of the highest vineyards in Greece. In winter, Mount Helmos is a very popular ski resort. All wines are organically produced; grapes are picked by hand only. I set up an appointment with the estates’ winemaker, Panagiotis Papagiannopoulos.
The estate is state of the art – very modern and beautiful designed, with a lot of attention to details. Even the wine labels fit in with the style of the estate itself. Panagiotis is a great example of the new wave of wine makers that have begun their work in recent years. He is totally committed to producing the highest quality wines possible. He is softly spoken, and at all times very honest and pragmatic. No sales talk; just focused on relaying the facts. He is obviously very talented in his field, we tasted the six wines produced, and all of them had his unique winemaking signature: A very pure and elegant style that results in an enormous fruit concentration that is so evident on the nose and palate. Even the most basic wines are in a league of their own.
Cultivated are the Greek varieties Roditis, the newly planted Malagousia, the very rare Black of Kalavryta, a variety that was nearly extinguished before Panagiotis started to plant some samples he had rescued. In addition, old plots of Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon exist. I find it very interesting that all recent plantings have been Greek varieties only, whereas it has become quite fashionable to plant international varieties all over Greece. Panagiotis certainly is not afraid to go against the stream.
The Tetramythos estate is a boutique winery with a great future. Mark this name as one of the most up and coming wineries in Greece.
I hadn’t realized wine was even really made in Greece. Interesting in general. Thanks for the info….I really like your use of video in the blog. We can all certainly learn some about combining those aspects of the blog.
Thanks again!
Mark, the exact date when wine production started in Greece is not known, but there is speculation that this started as far back as the third millenium BC. Glad you enjoyed the info and my first video, and I appreciate your comment.
Mark,
The evidence points to Greeks having primarily traded for wine with the Phoenicians, (and produced some at Crete), until around 1300 BCE, when Greeks started earnestly to produce their own throughout the islands.
Ancient Greeks placed restrictive regulatory controls on the islands well before anyone ever thought of Appellation Controls. Also, they probably were the first to transport wine on the sea by way of sails rather than oars, the way Phoenicians did it.
Plus, Greeks introduced the wine culture to Italy on the southern mainland. Greeks also created the concept of three square meals a day–with wine, of course.
Thomas,
thank you very much for your insightful comment. For those who don’t know, Thomas is the author of WINE: The 8000 Year Old Story Of The Wine Trade. He has also been a winemaker and wine shop owner in the past.
Marcus,
My pleasure. I love what you are doing.
Haven’t been to Greece in a long time, but I do have a contract for the 8,000 Year Old book to be published in Greek–if they ever get to do it. Things take so long to move in that part of the world!
Incidentally, I’m fond of Samos, island of olives (and some wine, too), not to mention the calamari and octopus, which go well with Greek wine.
Thomas,
it would be great to see your book published in Greek – it seems very fitting to me to translate it into the language of one the oldest wine cultures in the world. You may need some patience indeed, things are moving slowly – the Greek way of doing things is relaxing, to say the least.
Samos is a great island, and the Samos Cooperative produces some of the best value wines in Greece. I do have a bottle of a very old sweet wine in my cellar that comes from their private reserves – I have kept it for about 15 years, and still looking forward to enjoying it. That is the pleasure of wines, a 15 + year long foreplay before pulling the cork!
Marcus,
We signed the contract one year ago today. My agent just sent me an email telling me that he still hasn’t gotten the down payment…that’s beyond relaxed.
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