Oenoforos Estate, Rouvalis

The Oenoforos Estate is the creation of Angelos Rouvalis, a pioneering wine-maker who resuscitated Rhoditis, the old Greek varietal found in the region of Aigialeia, and bottles it under the name Asprolithi. Since 1990 it is one of the most distinctive wines made from this grape.

Angelos Rouvalis was born in Aigio and after completing his studies in Chemistry in Greece in 1974, he went on to study Oenology in Bordeaux in 1980. Two years later he was working as an oenologist with the Santorini Cooperative, where he contributed to the rebirth of Santorini wine.

After that he spent some time with the old firm of Achaea Clauss and went on to found a winery in his birthplace, Aigio, where he became aware of the potential of the Roditis grape.

"The truth is that even I was amazed when I tasted the wines made by the farmers from this region. I became mad about the quality and special characteristics of Roditis and so I took the decision to carry out my first wine-making experiments, with primitive means. For example, I remember that for cooling our two wine tanks we used the water from our borehole!

"In 1990 we founded the Oenoforos Winery and the very next year bottled our first vintage of Asprolithi, a white wine made exclusively from the Greek Roditis grape. It is a wine that impresses winelovers, even specialists, and thus all of Greece is familiar with the Roditis of Aigialeia. After 1993, with the aid of EU programs, we built our modern, no frills winery - very progressive for its time - which operates according to the law of gravity. In other words, it is built on six different intercommunicating levels, each of which is designedated for different functions. And this helps us improve even further our wines and increase our quantities, while at the same time we are moving on to the cultivation of some new Greek and foreign varieties ”.

Oinoforos wines include:

• The classic Asprolithi, Mikros Vorias white (Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc), Mikros Vorias red (Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon), Mikros Vorias Lagorthi, Mikros Vorias Riesling and Mikros Vorias rosé (Syrah).
• The Ianos series of aged wines and the Mitos tis Ariadnis, a new series (2016) of two white wines, Mitos Viognier-Roditis and Mitos Sauvignon Blanc-Assyrtiko.

Former president of the Association of Greek Wine (SEO), Rouvalis shows his concern for the overall development of the region in his support for all its activities as a way of promoting it as a destination for wine and food lovers.

And he is especially proud of his daughter, Theodora, an oenologist herself, who has inherited all his talents and charisma, particularly his love for wine and for his homeland.