I planted 1500 vines at Kokkalis

On Saturday, 28th March, I drove to Christos Kokkalis on a mission: He wants to plant new vines at two new plots at his vineyard. I arrived in the evening and we went out for a good meal, we brought along a bottle of his 2006 Syrah. We had a nice medium rare fillet - Christos said that he had shown the cook how to prepare the meat, because in Greece, it is usually cooked well done. I stayed at his house and we went to bed early, as a lot of work was waiting for us the next day.

We got up at 07:00 am, had a cup of coffee and went straight to work: First we collected the new vines, 600 Agiorgitiko, and the equipment, a small machine to drill the holes. It looked like a miniature version of a drill used to drill for oil, about 130 cm in height. Two workers joined us in the vineyard. First we had to measure the distance for the holes to be drilled: The rows were set 2.5 meters apart, the distance between the holes were set at 1 meter. One of the workers started to indicate the exact points where the next worker drilled the holes. Christos took the new vines and cropped the roots. I then planted the cropped vines into the holes. I had to make sure that the roots were firmly in the ground, using both hands to fill up the space with earth and pushing firmly into the ground, ensuring that no air pockets were left. The first third of the plot was quite stony; the second third was clay and the last part made up of sand. Amazing how the soil structure can vary within one plot of land of about 2000 square meters. The hardest part for me was the plantation of the vines in the clay part. How on earth could I ensure that no air pockets existed? Soon my hands were cracking open from all the firm pushing into the soil. The sweat was dripping and the work is actually quite exhausting from all the bending. I was congratulating myself that I have been practising Yoga on a daily basis for the last 3 years; otherwise my back would have certainly made much more trouble. At midday, we took a 30-minute break to eat some food. Christos was very pleased with the soil structure. He explained that the stony part will be responsible for a mineral character in the grapes, the clay adds a firm texture, and the sand will produce elegance and finesse. This was the second time that I have seen true terroir in Greece! We finished the work in the afternoon, then we organised a tractor to work the soil of the second plot of land. We left at about 0530 pm. I decided to stay overnight and to help Christos again on Monday. We were both exhausted and Christos prepared a meal at his home, after which he fell asleep on the sofa at 0800 pm :)

The next morning we rose again at 0700 am and picked up the other vines: 400 Cabernet Sauvignon and 500 Syrah. We started work just after 0800 am. Christos showed me that the Cabernet vines had already began to grow, as the eye started to develop on quite a few vines. I had to be extra careful not to hurt the eye. The plot was mostly made up of earth and sand; and also some loam, about 3000 square meters. We all had learned from the day before, and the teamwork was excellent, allowing us to work at a much faster rate. It was quite a warm day. When I started to plant the first vines I told Christos that the soil was less interesting then on the other plot, as it felt so soft. He smiled and replied that once the moisture would be gone, the soil would become as hard as cement, making the vines struggle to reach deep down with their roots. "Wine produced from this plot will be very elegant indeed, and I hope that I live long enough to be able to taste it. The other plot where we planted the Agiorgitiko also has a fantastic soil structure, it might produce such good quality grapes that I might decide to bottle a single vineyard Agiorgitiko."
We finished work in the afternoon and drove to his house where he gave me my reward for my work - a magnum of Trilogia 2005, and a bottle each of Trilogia 2006 and Syrah 2006 - I had a great time and learned a lot about the physical side of the wine business. I drove back home and arrived about 3.5 hours later. My children could not believe how dirty I was.

Visit from Antonis Papantonis

The 25th March is a public holiday in Greece, and I was very pleased to welcome Antonis Papantonis from the boutique winery Papantonis at my house. The estate's red wine is made from 100% Agiorgitiko and is not easy to find, as a large percentage of the production is sold to private clients. The wine is aged for 16 months in French oak, 20% of which is new. It is very enjoyable to drink young, but can easily be kept for 6 to 8 years.

Dinner with Apostolis Thimiopoulos

Apostolis Thimiopoulos was in Athens on the 20th March. He flew in from Thessaloniki and had a meeting with US wine importers at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Athens. I picked him up later in the day in Kifissia and we drove to my home. I prepared some stuffed lemons and we also enjoyed some crayfish and a selection of cheeses with fresh bread. I opened a bottle of 1999 Falletto from Giacosa and we had a lovely time. Apostolis is currently completely sold out of his 2006 Ghi ke Uranos. The 2007 will go on sale in September, so all we can do is wait for its official release. His export market is very healthy indeed, and his wines are particular successfull in the US, where it is sold by the name Uranos. He kindly brought me bottles of the 2006 and 2007 vintages, both which are stunning wines, 100% Xinomavro. We only had a couple of hours before he had to go to the airport, and we had a lively discussion about Greek wines. Apostolis is very passionate about the work in the vineyard and this is certainly reflected by the outstanding quality of his wines.

Detrop - Oinos Wine Exhibition in Thessaloniki

On the 7th March I visited the Oinos exhibition, part of the Detrop 2009 in Thessaloniki. About 20 wineries showed their wines to the public. The event was very well organised, and the hall was very spacious. Every winery had large stands, and there were also a number of wine book and wine magazine publishers. The event was special, as it was not overcrowded and the vintners had actually time to discuss their products. I left Thessaloniki early afternoon and drove back to Athens to arrive early evening. The next morning, I drove to the airport and flew to Germany for a 5 day business trip.

Lunch with Christos Kokkalis at Grada Nuevo Thessaloniki

On the 6th March I met Christos Kokkalis first for a coffee, then for a 5 hour lunch at the Grada Nuevo restaurant in Thessaloniki. The restaurant has its own wine cellar and the wine list has a great selection. The owner brought us small plates of different food, everything was extremly delicious. We did not order anything from the menu, instead trusting the owner's selection of dishes. We had a lovely time, discussing wines, work in the vineyards, the Greek and foreign taste for wines etc. Time was simply flying by. I spend annother great day with a great man!

Wine Dinner at the ArtO2 Teloglion Thessaloniki

On the evening of 5th of March I had the pleasure of attending a wine dinner at the ArtO2 Ristorarte Teloglion in Thessaloniki. I was very much looking forward to this occasion, as Christos Kokkalis and Apostolis Thimiopoulos were organising the event. In total we were 10 people. Christos had some Greek friends visiting from Germany, who brought some great bottles of Riesling (3) and a Pichler Smaragd along. They also surprised with a bottle of 2005 Bad Boy by Jean Luc Thunevin. We started dinner at 9 pm and the food was stunning. A total of 10 small and delicious courses were served with a different wine for each. Apart from the above mentioned wines, we tasted the Gris de Noir from Antonopoulos, a 2005 Ghi ke Uranos brought by Apostolis Thimiopoulos, a 2006 Nova from Christos Kokkalis, a Muscat Rio Patron 2003 from Parparousis, and a Bollinger Champagne. Every person at the table was a wine lover, so the conversation was all about Greek wines. What a pleasant evening it was - great company coupled with delicious food and great wines. The evening lasted until 2 am and I am glad I made new friends.

Claudia Papayianni, Arnea

On the 5th March I visited Claudia Papayianni and her father at her estate in Arnea, Chalkidiki. Claudia's mother is German, her father is Greek. She started to create a 25-hectare vineyard at an altitude of 650 m in 2003. She organically grows Malagousia, Assyrtico, Xinomavro and other regional varieties. At the end of 2006 the construction of a 3300 square meter winery started. The result is a state of the art showpiece. Claudia is a perfectionist. Her work is driven by attention to the smallest detail. The winery includes offices, a tasting room, a shop where the wines can be purchased, a wine-theater in the size of a cinema room with a screen and a glasswall that opens the view directly into the winery, an area where the temperature of each tank and the whole winery is computer controlled, a large cellar and an adjacent cellar room with space to keep older vintages. The outside area includes a large terrace with a BBQ, so that visitors can easily be entertained with food and wine. I was impressed by the sheer size of it all. This is a place I can highly recommend for anyone to visit.

Thimiopoulos, Trilofo

On the 4th March I had an appointment to meet Apostolis Thimiopoulos at his family's estate in Trilofo, about 15km south of Naoussa. I arrived a bit early and was greeted by his father, who took me straight into the family's house where his wife prepared home made food. While we dipped our forks into at least 6 or 8 different dishes, Apostolis' father told me a lot about their work in the vineyards. I learned many new quite technical Greek winemaking terms :) He also went to the cellar and opened a magnum of 2000, from a time where the wine received no oak treatment at all. The wine was still very fresh and showed a lovely pure fruit aroma. I admired it. The winery produces only one label: Ghi ke Uranos, 100% Xinomavro. Ever since Apostolis, who studied oinology in Athens, arrived at the winery to help his father, this wine has been an instant success story. It is a true terroir wine and is compellingly elegant in style. There is next to no interfearence in the winery, all the work takes place in the vineyards. When Apostolis arrived at the winery, he showed me a detailed map of the vineyards included in the Naoussa area. The map showed the different soil structures, and the Thimiopoulos' vineyards showed a remarkable variety of stony and chalky soils. He took me for a walk through the vineyards, and showed me the different soils - amazingly, the soils in the vineyards are structured like a mosaic - blue here, red there, white chalk two rows down - just incredible. Apostolis knows every spot in the vineyards, and he is a big believer in terroir. He is already experimenting with single vineyard samples. He is also a true believer when it comes to grape varieties. "Xinomavro is the grape of the Naoussa area, here exists the terroir for this grape. Why on earth has it become such a fashion to plant international grape varieties? We will always just work with Xinomavro in our vineyards, because this is why we can create great wines, because the terroir can work magic here." His father fully supports this view. The pair is nearly obsessed with quality - and the results show. The first Ghi ke Uranos appeared with the 2004 label, it swiftly made headlines. I was fortunate enough to taste the 2005, 2006, 2007 and barrel 2008 at the estate, the quality is there in every vintage, but the 2008 seems to be yet another step up. Apostolis even was eager to show me different cask samples of the 2008, one that was just racked, one that had just spent some days with the skins... The wines are extremly elegant - no over-ripeness, no tricks, just simply purity. Today I experienced first hand that great terroir exists in Greece.

Dalamara, Naoussa

Apostolis Thimiopoulos arranged for a visit at his friend Yiannis Dalamara in Naoussa. The Dalamara family has been involved in wine production since the 1840s. The winery today is still family-run and the production is totally organic. Yiannis and his wife Katerina, together with their son, live and breath their work in the vineyards. They also transformed part of their estate into a beautiful small wine museum, with old tools and barrels used and made by Yiannis' grandfather. The tasting and dining room is very cozy with a lot of attention to bring a rural setting alive. I had a lovely time there, tasting the wines, while Katerina used the open fire place to grill cheese, sausages and meats. Yiannis showed us a range of different vintages, including barrel samples, of his wines. The white is a blend of Malagousia, Assyrtico and Roditis. Yiannis produces an unoaked version, as well as a barrel fermented one. The wines were aromatic, textured and showed broad flavours. The oaked version just had a hint of oak, as Yiannis wishes to add a very carefully grafted different dimension to the wine. There are two red wines, first the Ampelonas Dalamara, a blend of 80% Xinomavro with 20% Merlot. The flagship wine is called Palaiokalias and is 100% Xinomavro. Both wines are very elegant in style and show full aromas of red berries. The Ampelonas had a very nice coffee and chocolate nose, being influenced by the Merlot blend. The Palaiokalias showed off magnificent pure fruit flavours. After 3 hours, Yiannis said that the 2006 Palaiokalias just had opened up completly. He is a big believer that Xinomavro needs a lot of time and air to bring out its best. In his view, it is wasted if drunk straight after being opened. The Dalamara winery is a serious producer and it is well worth seeking their wines out.