My Travel blog

Quality winemaking and responsible leadership-in the form of incentives for grape growers, promotion of a competitive regional agenda and conscientious farming-have become synonymous with the names Anghelos Rouvalis and Yannis Karabatsos. Also, by extension, with Oenoforos, their winery in the northern Peloponnese.

Anghelos Rouvalis is a man of few words. A wicked sense of humour lurks behind his slight build, ascetic appearance and formidable intellect, but his most striking quality is his modesty.

On completion of a postgraduate degree from Bordeaux in 1982, Rouvalis accepted the position of winemaker at the Santorini Co-op. During his three-year tenure on the island, he worked to adapt and update the house wines, maintaining that grapes must be picked earlier because "fruit and freshness are the style of the future". In 1985, he returned to his native Peloponnese, where he spent a year at Achaia Clauss in charge of quality control, then set up a wine-analysis laboratory in his home town of Aighio.

The majority of Greek terrain ‘looks’ south, its spine formed by the Pindos Mountains. An important exception is the south shore of the Gulf of Corinth, where the upland vineyards of Aighialia (500-900m) are exposed due north. The unusual orientation (sloped as a result of seismic activity) and the temperate maritime weather in the gulf have created a meso-climate that produces wines distinct in character from those of other Patras - appellation communes to the west.

Rouvalis quickly identified the best growers in Aighialia. He also learned to read the terroir of Roditis - planted communes at Ziria, Verino, Toumba, Fteri, Ano Diakofto, Mamoussia, Kalamia, Plataniotissa and the Plateau of Trapeza. By 1989, with his regional jigsaw puzzle in place, he was ready for the next step: a winery of his own. Oenoforos (’wine-bearing’) began small-scale production a year later.

As a young graduate with degrees in viticulture and oenology, Yannis Karabatsos had encountered few opportunities in the wine world of 1961. So he switched to the indoor plant business-it was, with hindsight, "more lucrative". In 1992, Rouvalis met Karabatsos through a mutual friend and the two discovered that they shared a vision. In 1993, Karabatsos made the long-term financial commitment to build Oenoforos an enlarged, modern winemaking facility near Selinous.

He also moved quickly, urging growers all over Aighialia to re-plant using the elegant Lagorthi and the aromatic red Volitza, and he carefully selected new sites (which he now monitors) for Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Initial results from the new vines are promising. The Plateau of Trapeza lies at 700 metres and maturing patterns are slow, but Rouvalis says that even first harvests are "packed with fresh-fruit flavours".

Despite the fact that it was initially produced in a primitive shed with only "basic equipment", Asprolithi, Rouvalis’ first label, has not put a foot wrong since its 1990 maiden vintage. Now an established, dependable, bone-dry white wine sourced from Roditis grapes grown in Aighialia, it displays focused, clean fruit on nose and palate.

Vision, hard work and intimate knowledge of their terroir have made the dynamic Rouvalis-Karabatsos duo responsible for the emergence of Aighialia as a high-calibre wine region. Teamwork has also played its part: "Vineyard activities and quality control are my responsibility", Karabatsos explains. "Wine making is up to Rouvalis. Our harmony is Oenoforos’ strength." Rouvalis adds that "there is space-we need more quality vintners".

Santorini Greece is one of the islands which produce one of the best wine varieties of the world, Vinsanto. If you want to taste overlooking at the beautiful sunset of the island’s caldera stay in Chromata Hotel Santorini or Katikies Santorini which offer the best possible accommodation.