Our final full day of the tour was spent in the PDO zone of Mantinia. This is one of the cooler viticultural zones in Greece with the valley floor already at 700 metres above sealevel, situated to the south west of Nemea and about an hour from Nafplio.
We headed first to the wonderful family owned Kalogris winery. Stopping off at the vineyard, we were hosted by Tatiana and her father Evangelos who greeted us with a shot of Tsipouro (Greek grappa) and talked us through the philosophy of this tiny estate with a wonderful charm and passion. They are organically certified and there is clearly huge attention to detail in the vineyard. From the vineyard we travelled to the family home in the village of Kapsas where we met Christina and Sandy so the full family team were there to host. We toured the house, discovered the family history and then sat outside in their delightful courtyard to taste through their wines. Moschofilero is the principal grape in Mantinia and the first three wines were different styles of the grape produced using different techniques, white, rose and barrel aged rose. A Merlot was followed by a semi sweet Moschofilero and a dessert red.
All their wines are low sulphur, unfined, unfiltered and really let the characteristics of their grapes shine through. Christina had also produced a delicious vegetable pie and feta samosas to wash down the wine with. This was a truly wonderful visit!
From Kalogris, it was a half hour drive to the somewhat larger winery Tselepos. This is a very important estate in Mantinia and the Tselepos family are viewed as pioneers of the Moschfilero grape and have established themselves as leading producers of the grape. Eleni (pictured) and Dimitra hosted our visit starting with a history of the family and then we moved into the modern winery and saw the barrel cellar and sparkling wine production. Tselepos were the first winery in Mantinia to get PDO certification for methode traditionelle wines.
Into the tasting room for six wines and a very light lunch (which was a relief as I didn’t believe Greece could do a light lunch!).
The sparkling vintage Moschofilero was a revelation as was the comparison of their Blanc de Gris 2022 and 2015 which showed just how this grape has the capacity to age. A rose, an Agiorgitiko from Nemea and a pure Cabernet Sauvignon rounded off the superb array of wines.
The day was not yet over though. Being the final night, dinner was planned as well. The excellent 3Sixty restaurant was our destination and delicious meal ensued with salads, stuffed mushrooms, roast pork and dessert – all washed down with an excellent Malagouzia,/Assyrtiko/Muscat white and a delicious Agiorgitiko red.
An added bonus for the tour was the Nafplio Yacht Show was starting this evening. Many fine sailing vessels were lined up on the quayside and Nafplio was definitely buzzing for this major annual event. It has been a huge pleasure to start this year’s programme of tours back in Greece and to explore the fascinatingly different array of wines and enjoy the hospitality of its lovely people.
