Wine production in Greece

Wine - an European asset
3 GENIKO LYKEIO
GALATSIOUEducation and culture
Lifelong programme COMENIUS

3 Geniko Lykeio Galatsiou
Multilateral school partnership 2012 - 2014
Wine an European asset
Education and culture
From antiquity until today the
vine has been one of the most
important cultivated plants
with economic significance.
The best-known type of vine
is called vitis vinifera and
had grown probably before
4000 BC.
GRAPE GROWING-WINEMAKING
INTRODUCTION

Viticulture is believed to have started by the countries of
the East and then spread westward along with the
migration of people.
Wine has been an integral part of Greek culture for over
4000 years, as the numerous archeological discoveries
throughout Greece indicate.
The first traces of wine production in Greece were found
on the island of Crete, in the middle
of the 3rd century BC.
Found at a Neolithic village site
in Iran, this jar contains the
remains of 7,000-year-old wine
ANCIENT GREECE

Many ancient Greek writers have written for the
vine and wine. One of these, Theophrastus (372-
287 BC), is considered to have written the first
complete book on the cultivation of the vine.
The ancient Greek god of wine,Dionysus
ANCIENT GREECE
The importance that viniculture had in
ancient Greek society can be seen in a
quote from the Greek historian
Thucydides: "the peoples of the
Mediterranean began to emerge from
barbarism when they learned to
cultivate the olive and the vine.”

Ancient Greeks used to drink
wine blended with water:
1 part of wine and 3 parts of
water. The habit of blending the
water with wine was abandoned
during the Byzantine period.
According to ancient sources here
were 85 different varieties of
wine. Wines were listed according
to their color or taste.
Kraters were vases used for
mixing wine and water.
ANCIENT GREECE

 More than 90 varieties of vine
were cultivated.
 There were 3 ways of planting:
ditches, pits and trenches.
 Vineyards were planted in
rows.
 The Greeks preferred stacking
plants for easier cultivation and
harvesting, rather than letting
the grapevines grow like trees.
Old tools
ANCIENT GREECE

HARVEST
The most important period of
the winemaking
Grapes were typically harvested by
hand in the autumn, from September
through mid-October.
Homer, the famous Greek poet, gives
us the oldest description of the
harvest time: "Young people pick the
grapes and put them in baskets. One
boy plays the guitar and the others
sing”. This scene comes to life on
ancient Greek vases.
ANCIENT GREECE

Crush: Extracting the grape juice.
The grapes were pressed by feet in built
stone tanks or in portable wooden basins.
ANCIENT GREECE

Fermentation
The grape juice (must)
was placed either in
clay amphorae, leather bags,
stone cavities or wooden barrels
and fermentation began.
The Romans
introduced
the use of
wooden
barrels.
ANCIENT GREECE

Mature
The wine first was stored in jars buried in the ground
sealed with plaster and pine resin and later in oak barrels.
The barrels had been washed with herbs and disinfected
with sulphur or pine resin. Thus “retsina”, a type of wine
which is produced only in Greece, was created.
ANCIENT GREECE

Retsina
Retsina is a white wine produced with the addition of
natural pine resin. Retsina is still produced to our days.
Vineyard, 19th century
ANCIENT GREECE

In ancient shipwrecks archaeologists
have found amphorae carrying wine of
the time with the place of origin
inscribed on them.
Transport-Trade
ANCIENT GREECE

The oldest written law on the wine trade is preserved in a
Greek museum and it dates back in the 5th century B.C.
ANCIENT GREECE
Transport-Trade

The export trade of Greek wines was very well organized
and spread across the Mediterranean to the Iberian
Peninsula and the Black Sea.
Coins depicting grapes of God Dionysus.
ANCIENT GREECE
Transport-Trade

 The ancient God Dionysus was replaced by St.Tryphon,
the patron saint of Viticulturists.
 Vast vineyards are owned by the clergy.
 Wooden presses are used for the production of must.
BYZANTINE PERIOD

MALVAZIAS WINE
 Famous Greek dark red
sweet wine of the
Byzantine period.
 Named after
Monemvasia, one of the
production regions of the
Franks called Malvasia.
 From the port of
Monemvasia and Crete it
was exported to all
European countries.
BYZANTINE PERIOD

The viticulture and wine
production is limited
significantly during the era of
the Ottoman Empire (1453-
1821) due to the hostile
attitude of Muslims toward wine
and high taxation.
Viticulture suffered great
destruction during the
revolution of 1821 but quickly
reclaimed agricultural interest
and even increased.
OTTOMAN EMPIRE

 In the middle of the 19th century
big vineries were established with
European owners.
 The Achaia Clauss wine factory, was
founded in 1861 by Gustav Clauss,
and it is famous for its
Mavrodaphne: dark sweet wine.
 In the beginning of the 20th century
a great reduction of viniculture is
observed. Causes: wars,
immigration, infection by phylloxera.
MODERN PERIOD

The vine harvest was a popular feast
because it involved the participation of men,
women, children, with the whole family
always celebrating the end of the harvest
with fun, dances and big feasts.
MODERN PERIOD

Until the half of the 20th century the commerce of wine
was limited to retsina and to unbottled wine. The export of
wine was carried out in wooden barrels.
MODERN PERIOD

From the 60s a new era begins for the Greek viniculture and
the vineries. The old vineyards are restored and new ones
are created with greek and foreign vine varieties.
The global market grants
distinctions and awards to
the Greek wines.
NOWDAYS

The Greek poet Odysseus
Elytis (1911-1996), awarded
with the Nobel Prize in
Literature wrote:
“If you try to
break down Greece
into its elements,
in the end you will be left
with an olive tree,
a vine and a ship”
NOWDAYS

The Mediterranean
climate, the morphology
of the ground, the
mountainous terrain
and the abundance of
islands has influenced
the viniculture.
Nowadays, more than
240 vine varieties are
cultivated, while most of
them cannot be
cultivated in any other
region in the world.
Greece is a vast
vineyard.
NOWDAYS

There are many small family
vineyards that may lie even on
the slope of a hill.
Terrace cultivation : Planting
on tiered stone terraces like stairs
on the slopes of the mountains.
Terraces or benches were
constructed in order to expand
cultivated land and to preserve
natural resources (soil-water).
NOWDAYS

 When the vine is at the stage of tender shoots it is
inflammable, as 80% of it is water.
NOWDAYS
 In the old days, the
vineyards of
mountainous areas also
served as natural
firewalls.
 There is written
evidence that people
were saved from a
great fire because they
sought shelter in a
vineyard.

Pruning is one of the most important viniculture
procedures and it is carried out by professionals.
 There are special types of pruning,
like Santorin's ‘kouloura’. (Santorin
is an Aegean island)
 Santorin vines are kept unstacked
and cultivated low to the ground
in a basket shape that helps
protect the grapes from the fierce
winds and the heat of the island.
NOWDAYS

The process of viniculture hasn't really changed
since the ancient times.
The vine-growers used to say that:
“the good wine is made at the vineyard”
or that “there is no good wine without a well-kept grapevine”
or even that “Bad grapes equals bad wine.”
In other words even an efficient viniculturalist cannot make
good wine unless the quality of the grapes is the best.
NOWDAYS

 Harvest continues to be a
labour skill, because in
this way we can pick the
most proper and ripe
grapes.
 Harvest time is
determined with chemical
tests on grape samples.
NOWDAYS
 Immediate transport of grapes to
the wineries in cooling trucks is
required.

In our days the traditional press has become obsolete and
has been replaced by manual or electrical crushers.
Thus, the romantic and ritual element of the whole process
has been lost but the quality of wine is much better.
.
We prepared must in our school, using a wooden press.
NOWDAYS

FIGURES 2009 SPAIN GREECE
AREA (km2) 505.992 131.957
VINEYARDS (km2) 11130 1130
WINE PRODUCTION (hl) 36093000 3366000
NOWDAYS

 Study of the composition
of the soil. Appropriate
interventions for the
improvement of the quality
of the soil.
VITICULTURAL –OENOLOGY INNOVATIONS
 Technological support of the
viniculturalists by universities and
scientific institutes.
 Equipment for the prevention of frost in
the vineyards.

Weather stations for
weather forecasts.
Underground irrigation
systems
Laboratories for the
observation and
prevention of plant
diseases.

 Vineyard mapping using remote
sensing technologies.
 By satellite pictures taken
during different stages of
grape growing not only we
achieve the discrimination
of those parts of the
vineyards that include the
best characteristics for each
variety of wine but we also
harvest the grapes on time.

 Mechanically assisted vine-trimming.
 Bioclimatic wineries operate, using green energy.
 Photovoltaic panels.
 Water recycling equipments.
 Exploitation of rain water.

CATEGORIES OF GREEK WINES
There are two categories according to the European Union
Legislation: Protected Designation of Origin (27 PDO wines)
and Protected Geographical Indication (115 PGI wines).

Vinsanto is an ancient winemaking tradition of
Santorini that dates back thousands of years ago.
Vinsanto is a sweet wine, made from late
harvested grapes that have been dried in
the sun for 12–14 days. They are crushed,
fermented and left in wooden oak barrels
for a minimum of 2 years.
WINES FROM SUN DRIED GRAPES
Muscat of Samos is a dessert wine, produced in
Samos ( Aegean island). It is made from sun
dried grapes and reaching an alcohol content of
14%.

http://youtu.be/36QalsJkMdw
OUR GROUP
Participating students
Alevizos John
Varvaridi Maria
Varlamou Marianna
Doukakou Eleni
Kourmpeti Mirsini
Papadaki Giouli
Papakosma Maria
Pavlaki Katerina
Politi Argiro
Xeliotis Hlias
Zamanou Sotiria
Kaskamtzis Alexandros
Niavi Eua
Tziotzioti Viktoria
Saante Polina
Tsampounari Artemis.
Our Activity :Making must
is available at:

Wine production in Greece

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