✒ Alpha Estate
Skiing in Greece? It probably doesn’t come to mind often.
For most of us, the image of Greece is deep blue water, yachts, sandy coves and, perhaps, if we are lucky, a delicious cold glass of Assyrtiko from Santorini. Greece, the ultimate laid-back sun-drenched Mediterranean lifestyle, celebrated by so many, from Patrick Leigh Fermor to “Mama Mia”, a country of gods and goddesses, Homer, ancient heroes and idle beauty. Certainly, that was my Greece before I visited Alpha Estate and added dappled mountain forests, fierce brown bears, stories of nymphs, and the subtle but intriguing perfume of the Xinomavro grape.
▴ Alpha Estate Vineyards and Winery
Alpha Estate, one of Greece’s most renowned wineries, lies in the remote wilderness of the Amyndeon appellation in the Florina region, on a limestone plateau, situated at an altitude of 620 to 710 metres, near the border of Albania and Macedonia, in northwest Greece. The mountains that surround it are the tail end of the Alps and are home to the beautiful ski centre of Vigla Pisoderi and Voras-Kaimaktsalan and the charming historic village of Nymfaio, which is protected by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture for its architecture.
This mountain village became famous for its silversmithing and today hosts a museum devoted to the art, along with a church where new bold frescos of the Macedonian martyrs in a deep blood-curdling scarlet, have been commissioned by a rich young banker from the region, who currently resides in London. It also boasts a charming boutique hotel where the owner has named each room after a nymph. She explained, “They guard the mountain, this is a special place, it is all about nature”.
Halfway up the mountain guarded by nymphs is the Alpha Estate winery, open every day of the year to tourists, except Christmas, Easter and New Year. It’s also a habitat for brown bears, which were driven south over the mountains to escape the bombings during the Balkan wars; they were originally dancing bears abandoned by the gypsies.
Such is the growing reputation of the estate that 16,000 visitors a year drive up the long bending forested mountain roads and past the wolf sanctuary to taste these extraordinary mountain wines. It is a journey which Eric Boissenot, the renowned first-growth Bordeaux consultant, also makes each year, and it is easy to see why. This is cool-climate mountain Greece, a historic land with links back to Alexander the Great, whose cousin, Amyndis gave his name to the appellation. It is perhaps best thought of as Greece’s Piedmont.
The owners are winemaker Angelos Iatridis, and viticulturist Makis Mavridis. As we drive up the mountain bends, Angelos explains how it all started…
““My father was a third-generation pastry chef from Thessaloniki, but I decided to study chemistry at the local university. The last module was oenology, and as soon as I studied it I knew I wanted to be a winemaker”. ”
▴ Angelos Iatridis and Makis Mavridis
This epiphany led Angelos to Bordeaux, to the Faculty of Oenology where he took his Masters Degree in Winemaking, but it was a decision to get some hands-on experience in the vineyards that was to lead to a friendship with his future consultant.
“I took the bus up the Medoc to the Pauillac region, as I was going to work a stage at Chateau Liversan for Prince Guy de Polignac. I arrived in the square at lunchtime and everything was shut, I hadn’t realised everyone stopped for lunch. I didn’t know what to do, nobody answered the Chateau phone and then I saw this young man who said, ‘Can I help you?’ It was Eric Boissenot, and he drove me to the chateau and soon we became firm friends. We studied at the Faculty of Oenology together, I was 23, he was 22. It was karma”. It was many years later, in 2006, that his friend, who by then had joined his father and was a world-renowned consultant to some of Bordeaux’ first growths, became his consultant too. Alpha Estate is the only winery in Greece that Boissenot travels to.
The young Iatridis headed back to Greece to work for the Boutari brothers, and after a couple of years decided to start a consultancy business with some of his Boutari colleagues. “We consulted and supported wineries all over Greece and it is through consulting that I met my friend and partner Makis Mavridis, who was a viticulturist”. It also gave him an opportunity to explore the potential of Greece’s different wine regions. Later, he also decided to broaden his experience with stages with Alain Brumont of Château Montus in Madiran (Tannat is one of Alpha Estate’s top wines), L’ Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vinin Colmar, Alsace, the Station Oenotechnique de Champagne in Epernay and a course at the University of wine in Souze la Rousse.
Both Angelos and Makis were fans of cool-climate high-altitude regions, but it was, of all extraordinary things, NATO that helped them decide to plant in the Amyndeon region. NATO was sponsoring a Science for Peace project to bring the Greek and Slavo Macedonians together. Angelos explained, “money was put aside for research into the Amyndeon region and the value of indigenous grape varieties, and the region had both Greek and Slavo Macedonians working in the vineyards.” Working with the Souze la Rousse university of wine, he applied and found “we fitted the criteria for a grant”.
The Amynedon region had been growing grapes since the 3rd century BC , and the ancient city of Kella was renowned for producing wines of very high quality. When Angelos and Makis arrived, most of the wineries were selling their grapes to the local co-operatives. They were intrigued by the possibilities of the region, with its sandy clay loamy topsoil covering the limestone subsoil. Though the climate is semi-continental, the cold mountain weather is mitigated by five prehistoric shallow lakes, leading to a diurnal difference of +-19 degrees and making for a long and slow growing season. It is the coldest part of Greece, but also one of the driest, with rain a rarity during the harvest season. Buoyed up by their NATO research, they decided to plant in 1995 4ha of Syrah, Merlot and Xinomavro.
The two men, as is often the case with successful partnerships, are completely different. Angelos looks as if he could have been a General in Alexander the Great’s army, hawkish intelligent face, and bear-like frame, with his dynamism and energy you believe very little could stop him. Makis looks as if he would rather be alone in the vineyards, quiet, studious and totally connected to the soil. In 1997 they formed the company Alpha Estate, two years after the first vines had been planted, today there are 180 ha with 140 ha in production, all in a single block.
The grape at the heart of the estate is Xinomavro, which means Xino (sour/acid) Mavro (black). The grape it most resembles is Nebbiolo, and like Nebbiolo, it is a great interpreter of its terroir. The profile of the wine is, however, more red fruit than black. Florina is famous for its sweet red peppers and Xinomavro has this flavour at its core along with other red fruits such as wild strawberries and sun-dried tomatoes. It has a thin skin, natural high acidity and a mountain brightness to the fruit. The grape is known for being tannic and it is unusual in possessing three or four seeds, which according to Angelos is the key to its phenolic ripeness. Greek’s leading wine expert, Nico Manessis, explains “you can tell when the grape is ripe, as the seeds taste of walnut”.
““you can tell when the grape is ripe, as the seeds taste of walnut””
What fascinated me was Xinomavro’s bouquet, subtly aromatic, the bouquet of the forested hillside, intriguing and mysterious. The grape’s natural high acidity combined with phenolic ripeness, gives Xinomavro long ageing potential and the older wines I tasted had those glorious tertiary flavours of truffles, and dried fruit, but with a backbone of acidity that keeps the freshness throughout.
The philosophy of the estate is sustainable viticulture, no herbicides are used and though they farm organically, there are no checks, so there is no certification. Cover crop is used on the sandy loamy soil, and each block is treated separately according to its rootstock and grape variety.
Modern technology is combined with Makis’s nose-to-soil approach, and a deficit irrigation system has been installed, 600 km (think Edinburgh to London) of irrigation pipes which are buried in the sub-soil at 40 cm deep and 30 cm for “controllable stress”.
Thirty million euros have been spent on the winery since 1995. “We don’t make compromises”, Angelos stated, “and we nearly lost the business in 2005”. Technology, championed by Angelos, and row-by-row walking by Makis, go hand in hand. Within the 140 ha there are 92 separate blocks, and all of them are vinified separately “I could make 92 separate wines”, Angelos said, “but I don’t think the market would like it”. The grapes reach the fridges within 40 minutes of picking, optical sorters are used and the grapes are destemmed before being vinified.
Angelos is a firm believer in technology: “You have to be in advance, you have to be proactive”. Every vat can be controlled at a distance, so whether he is in New York or on a beach, he can control what is happening. What is impressive is how the technology is used to serve the individuality of each plot, “this is micro-management, each sub-soil, each vine needs something different,” he explained. GPS satellites monitor the vineyards and thermal imaging is used to evaluate how stressed each vine is; this is when the impressive deficit irrigation system comes into play. It is a unique double act of old-fashioned viticultural practices by Makis and the use of the ultimate technology by Angelos.
““You have to be in advance, you have to be proactive””
There are several levels for the Alpha Estate wines, the Ultra Premium are called Ecosystem and include single-block Sauvignon Blanc Fume “Kaliva, “ a Chardonnay “Tramonto”, Pinot Noir “Strofi” a Tannat “Vrachos”, all from plots of between 2 and 3ha. The flagship, Alpha One, is different every year, depending on which varietal has performed best. There is also a late harvest wine Omega blend of Gewurztraminer and Malagouzia. Next are the Estate wines with Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé and the Estate Red S.M.X (Syrah, Merlot, Xinomavro). The premium range are named after the animals found on the hillside, Alpha Estate Syrah single vineyard “Turtles”, Alpha Estate Xinomavro Single Vineyard “Hedgehog”.
▴ Alpha Estate Xinomavro Reserve Vielles Vignes Single Block “Barba Yannis”
One of the wines which captivated me was the Alpha Estate Xinomavro Reserve Vielles Vignes Single Block “Barba Yannis” This 3.71ha block was planted in 1919, ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines trained in traditional Gobelets. Angelos and Makis bought the vineyard in 1999 and the wine is named “Barba Yannis”, (translation Sir John, after the vineyard’s former owner). The 2015 vintage was controlled power, revving away like a Ferrari on the starting line. A beautiful array or red cherries and greengages caressed the palate, with a bite of stone fruit, deep, and complex, with all the attributes to age beautifully. The 2014 was a broader expression, not as precise as the 2015, but still that spicy intense gorgeous rich red fruit interweaved with dark black chocolate notes, silky tannins and bags of personality. But the wine which stole my heart was the 2013 vintage, with its elusive fairy-tale nose which transported you into the hillside from where it came. There are wines when fruit notes go nowhere near describing the beauty of a wine, and this is one of them. Images of paths though mountain forests filled my mind, as its lingering beauty seduced my senses.
▴ The Alpha Tannat 2015 Single Block “Vrachos”
In the full tasting of the wines I found that I preferred by far the 2015 and 2013 vintages to the 2014. The Alpha Tannat 2015 Single Block “Vrachos” had so much latent energy that I wrote “full pelt jive”. It was bursting with juicy black fruit, like a mad dancer with its hair-down, there was nothing reticent about this wine, whereas the 2014 just didn’t have the same oomph.
What is truly exciting is that it is not just the small-plot single-vineyard wines which deliver. The Alpha Estate Blend 2015 (Eric Boissenot is hands on with the blending) is 60% Syrah, 20% Xinomavro and 20% Merlot and exudes class, generous blackberries and red fruit, long, elegant and as harmonious as a sextet at the end of a Mozart opera. It is not only the reds that shine. As a pupil of the Pope of White Wine, Denis Durbourdieu, Angelos has an affinity for teasing out the texture of his white wines. The Alpha Estate Assyrtiko 2015 Aghia Kirianki Single Vineyard enjoys skin contact for 6 hours, with a controlled alcoholic fermentation by indigenous flora isolated from the specific block and is maintained “sur lies” for 8 months. The result is a generous wine combining a core of white stone fruit with tangy mineral notes reminiscent of sea shells, lifted and lyrical.
We finished the tasting with a late harvest Xinomavro 2007, whose bouquet is pure dried old rose petals, the palate is a riot of wild strawberries and summer fruit, and the length appears endless. Extraordinary. It was a mark of the quality of the wines that after the tasting I felt energised and more intrigued than ever. At a time when Burgundy and Barolo prices are skyrocketing, these wines are still in financial reach; value for money for those who love individuality and terroir, can hardly be beaten (the majority are under £25).
If Alpha Estate is a torch-bearer for the Amyndeon region, its light spreads wide. Nine wineries are now officially registered, and to encourage excellence in the area Alpha Estate has opened an education centre on the Estate where growers are brought up-to-date with everything from vineyard techniques to the best tractors. Energy abounds, “if all goes well a hotel will open in 2023” says Angelos
As I drive back to my hotel through the forests to the top of the mountain, I think how singular the terroir is, and how relatively undiscovered. While other varieties grow well, Xinomavo is without doubt its star, hefted to the soil. It isn’t Pinot and it isn’t Nebbiolo, but it shares their ability to produce luminous wines of beauty which age with grace and elegance. Back in the village of Nymfaio, as I say goodnight to the owner of my boutique hotel, I ask her whether she believes nymphs protect other mountains. She looks at me sternly. “The nymphs belong here, they won’t travel,” she says firmly. As I pulled the light cord I thought, how appropriate, Greek terroir nymphs.
Sarah Kemp
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With thanks:-
Thank you to Neil Beckett for allowing me to republish this article which first appeared in the World of Fine Wine. To subscribe to World of Fine Wine click here.
Further information:-
Alpha Estate is imported in the UK by Hallgarten and Novum Wines.
And in the by US Diamond Wine Importers.
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