Wine history in Thassos

 The vines were selfgrowing to many areas due to climate.The art of viniculture was sign of civilization .Thrace was the first known wine region.
  Thassos accepts elements of culture at the Neolithic Age from land and the art of viticulture. Then accepts cultural elements from The Phoenicians who carried the development of the then eastern civilization.
  In the 7th century in second Greek colonization, Thassos colonized by Parians and begins a rapid evolution. Begins to export culture to the opposite coast with the colonies that founded. Vyvlinos (aka wine) is produced in the colonies of Thassos at the opposite shore.

 The 5th century founds Thassos with a strong economy which is partially due to the extensive vineyards and wineries. The wines of Thassos are of excellent quality and different types. Transported in amphorae with strict capacity in the largest known markets, where they have chosen customers..
  Let us examine this period in detail. So, in order to carry the wine at the markets in containers of specific capacity they use sealed (30,5lt) amphorae. While the amphorae was still fresh, it was sealed with a stamp which had the word 'Thassian' ie 'from Thassos', some symbols, and finally the name of the potter at the beginning, and of responsible trade lord later. Thus, was known the origin and the secure volume of wine purchased by a customer. So we have the first name origin of superior quality wine.

 Legislation regulates the wine-trade, which of course is the oldest in European level. In these passages we learn that the grape purchase agreement was prohibited before the end of July to protect wine-growers. Also the importation of wines from Athos to Cape Pachys was prohibited. Alongside, fines and other procedural are mentioned.
  For the retail market in the island, were carved cavities in marble of different volumes to control the quantities sold.
  From the aforementioned seals we learn that Thassian wine was exported up to Azof  sea, on top of the black sea, to Persia, Sicily, north of the Dalmatian coast. In Athens, a city which was then at its peak, the Thassian wine was in high esteem.

 Valued for its aroma in Wealth by Aristophanes, to the women in Ekklisiazouses who knew all the sweets that were hid in the little jars of Thassos, and the companions of Lysistrati who swore on little amphorae with Thassian wine to not letting a man to approach them as long as there is war with Sparta. Thassian wine is served at the banquet of the rich Callias in honor of the beautiful Autolycus and Socrates. Then, Antisthenes uses it as a symbol of luxury.By Theophrastus we learn, that the wine offered to Rector of Thassos was flavored with honey and flour from wild wheat. The color was usually black. It was drank with an equal amount of water and many times offered and warm. Archeostratos names Thassos wine “brave”.

 In Greece, begins to indicate new wine regions with exceptional wines. Nevertheless, Thassian wine keeps its place among the first.Then the Romans got fascinated by Greek wines and started transporting wine varieties in Italy.

 Virgil, states Thassian wine between these varieties. Pliny, tells us that most varieties that were  transplanted to Italy, came from Chios and Thassos, leading us to the conclusion that Thassos had a multi-varietal vineyard.

 Polydeuces and Athenian characterize Thassian wine sweet, with aromas of plants; a  reference to sweet and dry wines.

 In Byzantine times, Thassos beset by raiding of Arabs, Slavs, Venetians, Crusaders and pirates. It's a time of stagnation rather than growth. At the end of the Byzantine era Thassos belongs to the Genoatiko house of Gatelefkon.

After the fall of Constantinople, many Constantinople families settled in Thassos which is shown by the many Byzantine name of the inhabitants of. Until 1455, when it was conquered for the first time by the Turks and stays firmly against the Turkish occupation from 1459 until 1813, except for the period 1770-1774 that was to the Russian occupation.      
 From 1813 until 1902 was in Aigyptian possession and from 1902 to 1912 was released. In those years gradually became a shift to the cultivation of olives at the expense of viticulture. Another reason for the decline of viticulture were the pirate raids of the 17 century, the repulsion of the population in the mountainous parts, and the interest all conquerors Turks, Egyptians, Russians showed towards the timber, forest products, honey and oil. In 1858 the traveler Perot referring to viticulture, writes that there were so many vineyards as about the needs of residents. The Thassian wine belongs to antiquity. However, the modern wine did not hit in the head and reminded the good French wines.
  In the 20th century, on top of what led to the shrinkage of the Thassian vineyard, phylloxera also destroyed all the vineyards of the island from 1955 to 1960. The interest in the reestablishment of vineyards was small because most of the population had more oriented towards the olive-growing, tobacco work in Kavala and migration. This created a limited number of vines, among them the Saviors’. The end of the wine-growing was written by the fires of 1985 and 1989.  
 Today the vineyards on the island are numbered and with several varieties mainly table and in small surfaces. The planting of Georgina shows interesting, a vine that arrived in Thassos via the Holy Mountain from Georgia. Is a vine with lush foliage and resistant grapes.
Our vinicultural activity is directed to produce dry and sweet wines. The Thassians, that have some quantities of grapes, use it mainly for the production of spirit.

 We established our new vineyards in the Upper Sotira at an altitude of 450-550 meters in place of the old vines. They are oriented northwest, open to the sea and surrounded by pine forest. This helps us a lot to solve the lack of water. We grow them with strict organic methods so every year we tartrate exceptional quality grapes. We produce two dry wines, red from varieties of Merlot and Lymio and white from varieties of Chardonnay and Assyrtiko. Also, we produce a semisweet white from white Muscat of Alexandria and a sweet sun-dried Muscat also from Alexandria.

Making new plants

After phylloxera (1955-1960), harvesters in Greece, when they planted new plants they were using phylloxera-resistant American wild plants. A practice followed by many until today. We create new plants by our-selves, risking a catastrophe of our vineyards. We choose rods of very good grapes and put them on the sand upside down to make roots. In May we will meet again when they are ready for planting. This is the process that was followed before the phylloxera in areas that were relatively dry. In areas that had potentials for watering, the wine growers planted the rods into the soil immediately without having roots.

We tie the vines in bundles.

We burry them upside down in the soil.

We water the dirt so to compress it.

We cover them with sand so they can make roots.

We cover them with manure to keep them warm.

We put nylon above them to keep them warm.

First ploughing

We did the first spring ploughing a little earlier than we used to, because it seems the moon of April will be relatively moist and it will be good for the soil to absorb as much water as possible. We have nothing to  complain of this year, the snows of winter had not missed. Much more moisture compared to last year.

Xristos Giannakis ploughing

Ploughed field at Aslanis

 

Pruning

Since mid-January to mid-February you can prune without consulting the moon. The harvesters in Greece say so. But this year the winter was heavy, so pruning went back almost a month. But it does not matter. Our vineyards contain 4000 plants per hectare. On each plant we left 6 eyes so that it can give us  proper grapes to a dry and hot summer.
 

Merlot

Giannis Giannakis prunes merlot

Muschat

Pliades

Each  professional divides the year usually according to the job. For example, a school supplies dealer starts the year with the start of classes in schools, a tourism professional in the Greek islands by early summer, etc. For wine producers   the year you would think that begins when the grapes come in winery in late summer or early autumn or late autumn to mid winter (ice wine).A real confusion!!!

The ancient Greeks correct thinking, as always, linked the production of wine with the appearance  of the grapes in the vineyard. This approach could not be different for each winemaker.

 

The small unripe grapes appear at the end of May. From this time the vine lives to make the best fruit in order to continue to exist as a species on the planet. Golden opportunity for us to harvest tasty and healthy grapes. Tired at the end of October will stop this process to rest, satisfied with what is usually achieved

So anyone who believes that the quality of wine is the result of the quality of grapes and not of the wine-making aids, the above dates do not leave him unmoved. If we would like to lock this season with the eternity of the universe, we only have to look at the sky. We see therefore that at the end of May poulia rises and sets at the end of October. The light poulia is the group of tuples. In the life of the Greeks from Homeric times tuples was the most loved and talked constellation. It was said that they were daughters of Atlas and Plioni and they were named Alkioni, Maia, Merope, Electra, Celaeno, Taygeti and Steropi.

 

For all of us who work in the Giannakis winery, tuples contain many symbols for which we will refer several times

Memories of Giannakis Nikolaos

 

All families of the Sotiros in Thassos had few vineyards or some more than others. It was the largest source of income, even larger than from the cultivation of olives. But after the phylloxera epidemic in the 50's, few vines were replanted, because people preferred to work in Kavala or migrate to a more “relaxed life” as they said. I remember the arbor of sideriti (greek variety) at the entrance of one of our vineyard. I remember at my mother's house emptying the baskets full of grapes from paraporti (linos back door) to the highest part of the courtyard in linos (traditional wine-press) and her siblings stepping on them. I remember I fell from the donkey which was loaded with baskets while going with my mother in the vineyard for the transportation of grapes. I remember at the edge of the village the distilleries and many villagers who make their own tsipouro with loud voices and laughter. I even remember one barrel of wine in the basement of our house that my father was keeping it for when I get married. But when we left at 1959 to move to Kavala, the wine was not kept properly and unfortunately evaporated. These experiences had a great impact on me, which resulted in me being cut off from the vine and wine. Since 1982, I started making wine in the stairwell of my house in Kavala every year. Many celebrations were made with these wines. In the meantime, I was hired in the public service.

One day, my friend John Chloros (publisher, journalist) we were casually drinking and he said ¨ since you love doing what you do, why not share it with the world and keep it only to yourself and your friends ¨. This exhortation was extremely important to me. In 2000 I started planting vines to Sotiros, and in 2004 I resigned from the public service and found my little winery in Skala Sotiros.

The vines were planted where the vineyard of Sotiros was before 1960. We didn’t convert anything. It was all wisely done by our ancestors. The cultivation could not be anything but organic. The wine that was produced was organic. Even then I was not happy, because when you find yourself in an environment of absolute purity loaded with so much wine-growing and wine history (from the 5th century BC), you realize that you are obliged to do so much to have your conscience clear.

But when you’re constanlty looking, something comes out. I started listening carefully to the experiences of my old fellows, started reading the ancient writings that I came across and watch the activity of alternative wine-makers around the world. The knowledge I gathered was enough for the big change.

2009. The year that we first made the first barrel of Chardonnay wine. That wine had to be kept sealed in barrels for at least two years. Without being absolutely certain of what we were doing at that time, in 2010 we used the same way to produce our wines using red and white grapes. Finally, in 2011 we open our first barrel. My God, we made it!

The recipe: organic cultivated vineyard, a small yield per vine, well matured, traditional vinification without any additional correction, stay in oak barrels on the winelees all the time, without the use of sulphites.