Monemvasia Winery

   
Located in Tsimbidi · Greece

A mission to bring back forgotten gems lies behind Monemvasia Winery, established in Velies in 1997. The Tsimbidis family built their winery first, experimenting with various winemaking processes before planting up their vineyards with local Greek grape varieties in 2005.

Today the estate is home to 30 hectares of organic vineyards growing a collection of rare varieties typical of the Monemvasia terroir. As native varieties, they thrive in the schist and clay loam soils that characterise this area, and benefit from a warm Mediterranean climate tempered by the cooling effect of the nearby sea, which sends ‘meltemia’ winds to protect the fruit from the fierce heat of August.

Growing these grapes in the setting they were intended for allows the team here to operate a minimal-intervention method. Yields are kept low at around 3500kg per hectare, with grapes harvested by hand to ensure the best quality.