Our final full day took us to the PDO area of Mantinia where the Moschofilero grape finds its finest form. About an hour from Napflio, our destination was the amazing small winery of Kalogris. We met daughter and father – Tatiana and Evangelos – in the vineyard. Three hectares of organically farmed Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and of course Moschofilero.
Tatiana took centre stage and bowled us over with her amazing passion and enthusiasm for the family estate. We walked around the vines, Evangelos gave some viticultural insights and we listened to classical music that is piped through to the vines.
From the vineyard, it was a short hop to the family house. Another warm welcome awaited from mum Cristina and we split up to tour the cellar in two groups. Convening outside, we enjoyed an eclectic range of their wines incorporating dry through to sweet Moschofilero, semi sweet Merlot and a Cab Sauv co fermented with Moschofilero. We were then surprised with a delicious spinach pie and an utterly delicious ice cream sandwich and chocolate creation.
It is a truly wonderful experience at Kalogris. The family extend the warmest of welcomes and offer the most generous hospitality.
Our final visit of the tour took us back into Nemea and the family estate of Constantin Gofas. This is another winery that has benefitted from investment and has found great success – particularly with exports – 60% of production going abroad. The location is unassuming at first but reveals a tiered estate leading down to a small river. We tasted outside under a huge tree with the wonderful Betty. Betty has hosted all our tours and combines great humour with an extensive knowledge of the region. The Gofas range is top class. The highlight white was their Meryantxa 2020 – made from 100% Kidonitsa – a new and delicious grape variety that further extended our understanding of Greek grapes. A mix of Agiorgitiko reds and a delicious sweet wine rounded off the tasting.
With all the tastings completed, all that was left was the final night dinner. Held at 3Sixty restaurant, we tucked into salad, spinach pie, stuffed mushrooms and slow cooked beef.