Our last day began with a 50 minute trip to the beautiful family owned estate of Kalogris. The family, consisting of Mum (Cristina), Dad (Evangelos) and two sisters (Sandy and Tatiana), work tirelessly everyday running all aspects of the business, including the entire harvest.
A tour of the home and winery showed us the importance of family to Greek culture, and the hospitality of the family was warm and welcoming. Sandy and Tatiana delivered a wonderful talk on the history of the winery and the struggles experienced with this years harvest, although they remained optimistic for next year.
We tasted a selection of 6 wines which are named after family members or celestial bodies, my personal favourite being the Mister Helios, a Moschofilero dry white wine. We were served a ‘Greek light snack’, of a cheese, tomato, egg and olive pizza, but as it was Greek, it was not light at all. The estate was truly something we had not experienced before, and we left feeling part of the family, hoping we could return next year to help with the harvest.
Saying goodbye to Kalogris, and we were off to our final stop of the tour, the Tselepos estate. Here, we were welcomed to a completely contrasting environment to this morning’s visit, although just as hospitable. We had the opportunity to see the very grand cellar, peek into the fermenting Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, and see the storage of the bottles currently undergoing remuage.
With our tasting, we were served a selection of Greek pastries, bread and cheese. We tried 6 wines, including a number of Moschofilieros, Agiorgitiko, Cab Sauv and their vintage sparkling. A treat for us all was to compare two Moschofilero vintages, the Blanc de Gris 2015 and 2022, with my preference going to the 2015 wine.
Our final night concluded with dinner at 3SIXTY, not sure how any of us were hungry, but we managed to power through. With once again, fresh Greek salad, courgette pie, fresh bread with olives, but we were also treated to traditional Greek cheese pastry, before our main course of beef cheeks came out. A final surprise from Tim, who had delighted us with the Hgemon 2005 Namea Grande Reserve in Magnum, a great finish to a great tour.
Like a several people on the tour this week, it was my first time, and we have thoroughly enjoyed seeing what Greece has to offer in wine, let alone the hospitality of the Greek people.