The Greeks are known for traveling to various places and picking up knowledge from around the world. This rule applies to two agriculturalists, Yiannis Paraskevopoulos and Leon Karatsalos. Their love for wine took them to various wine-rich places of the world, where they learnt the tricks of the trade, before starting their own wine label, Gaia, in the year 1994. Since then, they have been doing all that they can to make the most of the two ultimate wine regions of Greece – Santorini and Nemea.
They started out with making white wines, but within a couple of years of inception, they expanded to creating red wines as well. These wines are produced from grapes grown in two vineyards – Nemea and Santorini.
Nemea – Located in the Nemea PDO (Protected Destination of Origin) Appellation of Greece. These vineyards contain vines that grow at different altitudes (250m to 850m above sea level). Officially recognised in the year 1971, this is the biggest vineyard in Greece right now. This vineyard is known for its limestone soils, warm summers and humid winters. The red varietal of Agiorgitiko is the main varietal grown here.
Santorini – This place is known for its unique ecosystem. The soil here is volcanic and porous in nature, because of the scorching summers and lack of rainfall all through the year. The Mediterranean climate of this place makes it ideal for growing one of the rarest and most indigenous white grape varietals of Greece, the Assyrtiko.
The winery in Nemea is located close to the Asopos River and gives a fantastic view of the Nemea valley. Currently, this winery can process 3060 hectalitres of wine, but it is equipped to handle more. The Santorini winery, on the other hand, is quite old as it used to be a tomato processing factory in the early 1900s.
https://gaiawines.gr
Find out more
