“The renaissance of Greek Wines”

Welcome to Greece
“To enter Greece is to step into a land where you hear the lap of waves on honey-colored beaches. Your eyes look upon the sun-blanched ruins of ancient temples. Your nose takes in the aroma of aged olive groves and the perfume of caper blossoms. And best of all, you are invited to savor an array of dishes that have welcomed visitors for countless centuries.” Susanna Hoffman, The Olive and the Caper.

What makes Greek wine so unique are the more than 300 indigenous grape varieties grown there, some of which have been cultivated since ancient times. Many of the world?s best wine critics agree that the distinct flavors that come from these native grape varieties are a strong marketing advantage for the Greek wine industry. Many well-known international grape varieties are also used in Greek wine making. This extensive variety of grapes together with the moderate Greek climate, plentiful sunshine, low average rainfall and soils of moderate fertility combine to provide an excellent environment for the production of high quality wines.

Vatistas Vineyards
lie on the plants of Vion and the hillsides of Pantanassa next to the castle of Monemvasia, where the famous wine Malvazia grape originates.
The historical significance of Monemvasia, just a few kilometers northeast of his vineyards, has never been lost on Vatistas. An engraving of the fortified isthmus adorns all of his products. Although Vatistas? plantings include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet and Merlot, he is one of the few producers in the Peloponessos to have devoted energy to the exploration of some of the cultivars presumed to have comprised the local version of Malvasia some 700 years ago. Plantings include In local varieties Petrouliano, Asproudi, Thrapsa, Mavroudi, Monemvasia, Kydonitsa, Roditi, Mandilaria as well as, Assyrtiko, Aedani, Athiri, Agiorgitiko, Malagousia, along with the noble foreign varieties Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet and Merlot.

MEGAPANOS Winery, Attika, Greece
Megapanos Winery vineyards are found in Pikermi, in the district of Mesogia, in the heart of the wine growing region of Attica just a few kilometers from Athens. The growing of vines in the region is a heritage from the olden times. The area is known for the cultivation of the noted local Savatiano grape variety, which produces a fresh,light dry white wine with a fruity flavour and a crystal clear colour.

HAGGIPAVLU WINERY (OLYMPUS)
Tripoli, Mantinia, Peloponnese, Greece
Haggipavlu winery is daughter company of ETKO, the oldest Greek Cypriot Winery which was founded in 1844. The winery is in Tripoli, Peloponnese, in southern Greece. Their great aspiration is to offer the consumer different new wine from time to time but also to to promote a love for wine within the boundaries of the rich winemaking heritage and culture of Greece and Cyprus as ETKO has been doing for over one and a half centuries.

Commandaria, Ambrosia from Cyprus
The oldest named wine of the world

Commandaria is an exciting wine in a history-filled bottle! The oldest wine still in production, Commandaria has been made in Cyprus since at least 1,000 BC. Commandaria is a wine celebrated by Homer. It was poured as the wine of choice by the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. How amazing that this very same wine is available to us now, made in essentially the same way and from the very same places of Cyprus. Only grapes of the native varieties Xynisteri and Mavro are used for Commandaria, harvested from registered vineyards in 14 mountain villages in the Commandaria region that lie on the foothills of the Troodos mountains.

Winemaking in Cyprus: The local wine industry has committed itself to producing superior quality wine with a true expression of the Cypriot terroir and typicity of the local varietals. Their vision is to reflect the rich history of Cyprus wine and the feelings and character of the Cyprus soil and its people.

The Pavlou Winery is one of the most modern and new wineries located in Amynteon, Northern Greece, a V.L.Q.P.R.D. region that has produced wines for thousands of years. Completed in October 2006, Pavlou Winery is equipped with state of the art winemaking equipment from Italy and was designed to produce consistent high quality wines, still and sparkling.

Owners George Pavlou, Vasilios Kagas, and Alex Pulcini, with more than 50 years of grape growing and winemaking experience among them, created this estate to produce wines that represent the best qualities of Amynteo, and its distinct terroir. While other wineries have chosen to focus on the more well-known foreign grapes, all of the wines produced at the Pavlou Winery are based primarily on the local indigenous Xynomavro grape. The grapes are selected from low yield vineyards whose ages range between 15 and 100 years old. The property is located in the hills of Agios Panteleimon, at an altitude of 2100ft above sea level, between lakes Vegoritis and Petres, and encompasses approximately 8 hectares of land. The soil is sandy and well draining. The area enjoys a temperate micro climate with cold winters and, warm summers with low humidity.

The current portfolio list includes two red wines, a white wine, a rosé wine and a sparkling rosé.

Agros family of wines is the child of Wonderful Ethnic Imports? founder Konstantine Drougos and his oenology team that seek to present the US wine consumer with the opportunity to enjoy great value wines from Greece. It is a partnership of some high-quality winemakers in Greece that created a portfolio exclusively for the US. Agros features mostly wines made from Greek indigenous grape varietals. The dry wines are easy-drinking and best enjoyed in every day meals. Highlights of the portfolio are the dessert wines, Hebe Muscat and Hebe Mavrodaphne, two popular AOC wines that are produced in Patras, Peloponnese. Agros (the root of the word agriculture) means the ?field? in Greek and was chosen as the brand name to reflect the fact that all of the wines truly express the typicity of the Greek terroir. The team of Agros hopes that their wines will bring kefi (cheerfulness) to the consumer?s heart and mind.