Visit at Christos Kokkalis

On the 15th May I made my way to Skafidia to pay another visit to Christos Kokkalis. It is always such a pleasure to spend some time with him! The car journey was very pleasant. May is such a nice month, as everything is in full bloom, the landscapes are beautiful to look at. After the 3 1/2 hour journey, I arrived around midday. Christos's sister and niece had stayed with him for the last days and we drove them to Pyrgos where they wanted to catch the bus to Athens. Afterwards we made our way to the sea and had a nice lunch at a fish taverna, which was followed by a relaxing siesta at Christos's house. Late afternoon we drove to his vineyard, the one where I planted vines in March. They had already grown nicely, most were about 20 to 30 cm in height. Christos showed me how to thin out the vinebranches and leaves from the Syrah vines that were growing vigorously (they were planted 7 years ago). I love learning about the work in the vineyards, and I feel very privileged having such a great teacher! At about 10 pm we went to a restaurant where some friends of Christos were waiting for us. It was a great evening, I had brought along a bottle of Kuehling-Gillot Kreuz Spaetburgunder 2006, which Christos really liked. He brought a bottle of his Trilogia 2006 - what a wine! The nose was full of cassis and coffee, it is extremly rich on the palate with bags of tannins. This is the best Trilogia to date, we were all struck by its density. Christos also brought a bottle of Volnay Marie Mairgnot Les Chenes Premier Cru 1997. It had a bit of a rough time as we served it after the Trilogia, nevertheless it was a good wine that it is still going. I stayed overnight at Christos's house and we went to bed about 1:30 am. In the morning we had breakfast and coffee, some more discussions about Greek wines, and I left at 09:30 am and made my way back home.

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.

Greek wines - a busy start of the new year

My first trip of the year (22.01.) took me to Nemea where I spent a couple of hours with the very generous Mr. George Palivos of the Palivou Estate. We tasted the full range of wines, starting with the basic Anemos white (Roditis), Anemos red (Agiorgitiko), and Vissino rose (Agiorgitiko/Syrah). Next came the Estate wines: the white Stone Hills (Chardonnay/Malagousia) and the red Nemea (Agiorgitiko). These were followed by the red premium wines from the Terra Leone range: Ammos reserve (Agiorgitiko), a Merlot, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. We finished with two dessert wines - Sun's Art white (Muscat) and Sun's Art red (Agiorgitiko). Mr. Palivos clearly is a gifted vintner, as the whole range of wines tasted was superb. The quality of the basic wines is already at a high standard, and every level up in price from there is more than matched with the improving quality. From there I drove through vineyards of Koutsi and enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of nature. I did not meet a car for quite some time, I finally flagged down the first I saw to ask for directions (it is quite easy to get lost in the mountains). The driver opened the trunk of his car instead and gave me an unlabelled bottle of wine. He said he was a hobby vintner and I should try his wine (Agiorgitiko/Syrah). He showed me his vineyard, and only after I returned home did I discover that his vineyard lies right next to Gaia's! I look forward to opening the bottle soon. Thank god I still have his business card in case his wine is mindblowing, who knows, maybe I'll source the next talented Nemea vintner :) At Ktima Driopi I found only a builder who worked on a new building. I remembered that Ktima Teselepos had just taken full control of the Driopi Estate, so I decided on the spot to drive to Tripolis. There I was able to meet the owner, Mr. Yiannis Tselepos. He was one of the pioneers of the 1980s, establishing his estate quickly as a top quality boutique winery. He is a larger than life character, and I enjoyed our discussions a lot. By now it was getting late, and I arrived back home in the evening after a 400 km daytrip.

Four days later I visited the VorOino at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Athens. This event is organized by the Wine Producers Association of the Northern Greece Vineyards, and about 40 wineries showed their wines. The event was overcrowded and extremly busy. At Ktima Alpha, I had to stand in line to taste the wines. Luckily I was able to have chats with Angelos Iatridis, the winemaker of Ktima Alpha, Evangelos Gerovassiliou, the owner of Gerovassiliou Estate, and Thanassis Arvantidis, who together with his brother George owns the Arvantidi Vineyards.

On 29.01. I left at 6 am, as I was invited by Christos Kokkalis who came to fame with his Trilogia (Cabernet Sauvignon) wine. He is located in Illia, close to Pyrgos, and I was excited to meet him. Mr. Kokkalis lived and worked as a pharmacist in Germany for 40 years. His dream was to produce a world class Cabernet wine in Greece. He began to buy land and plant vines. For a few years, he continued to work in Germany while producing wines in Greece. He finally sold his pharmacy and became a full-term winemaker. His story is amazing, as he did not have any wine background, he is completely self-taught. I arrived at about 9:30 am, at which time he had just woken up, having spent the fornight drinking lots of good wines with his friends. We talked about wines, tasted barrel samples of 2007 and 2008 Syrah and 2008 Trilogia in his garage, where he stores the barrels and winemaking equipment. The quality of his wines is of the very highest standard, even his basic Nova (Agoirgitiko/Cabernet Sauvignon) is extremly well structured. It was freezing, and his two dogs were jumping up and down on me, while I admired the barrel samples. It was almost comical, me shivering, holding the glass in my hand and trying not to tumble while the dogs jumped on me. He then took me to his friend at Ktima Stavropoulos, where organic wines are being made. I tried the white Linon (Assyrtico), and Ilis (Merlot), the former was fresh and charming, the latter dominated by wood, but soft and elegant nevertheless. The three of us had lunch at a taverna, Mr. Kokkalis then intoduced me to Dimitris Skafidas, the winemaker at Ktima Mercouri. The Mercouri Estate in my eye offers a great range of niche wines, even for Greece. They had in the past strong connections with Italy, and planted quite a few Italian grape varieties. One finds blends like Refosco/Mavrodaphne, Mourvedre/Avgoustiatis, Tourkopoula/Ribolla Gialla among others. This estate is a true wine lovers paradise, there are so many interesting wines to try, and all are exceptionally well made. I was able to discuss the eight wines I tried with the Mr. Skafidas, who kindly took the time to taste with me. By now it was already afternoon, but I had another treat waiting! Mr. Kokkalis called his good friend Thanassis Parparoussis, who is located near Patras and said I was coming to taste his wines. Mr. Parparoussis came with his car to the Patras exit I took to meet me and show me the way to his estate. We toured the winery, then went to his home where he had prepared a table with bread, fresh cheeses, water, and of course the wines. He had even decanted a wine for me after he received Mr. Kokkalis' call. We tasted together six of his wines, the quality is simpy outstanding. Amongst others, we tried a white (Athiri/Assyrtico), the red Reserve (Agiorgitiko), the red Taos (Mavrodaphne), the sweet white Muscat Rio Patras and the sweet red Mavrodaphne. I was deeply moved by the experience. At 6 pm, I started my journey home and arrived at 10 pm, having clocked up 720 km.

On 08.02. I visited the Oinotelia exhibition at the Megaro Mousikis in Athens around midday. About 40 wineries showed their wines. The exhibition was extremly well organised, and I tasted about 80 wines in four hours. I was glad to taste the new Escapades range, a Stellenbosch (South Africa) joint venture of Greek winemakers Gerovassiliou and Tsaktsarlis, as well as marketer Soldatos. Other highlights included Sclavos, Karipidis, Kikones, Panagiotopoulos, Ampeloeis, Tsilili, Oenogenesis, Fragou, Antonopoulos and others. I was most impressed with the range of wines from Ktima Argirou, all of which were fantastic.

Two days later, Mr. Kokkalis called me. When I visited him, I gave him two bottles of Daumas Gassac, 1995 and 1985. He drank them the night before his call, and wanted to thank me. He mentioned that he was in Athens the next day, and I invited him for dinner at my home. I picked him up from Kifissia tube station at 730 pm on the next evening. My wife had prepared dinner, and I served a magnum of Domaine Tempier 1990 (Bandol) with the main course, followed by a half bottle of Chateau Climens 1989 with desert. Both bottles came from my own wine cellar. We had a great evening, extremly enjoyable with lots of stories and laughter. Christos (he said good wine friends have to call each other by their first names) originally had planned to get home early, but it was midnight when he departed. It was simply one of these magical evenings, where everything fits and the time just goes by so fast. He offered me to come to his estate in summer, to show me how he makes the wine. This I will most certainly do, as he is like a great artist when it comes to making great wine!