Nemea - Vineyards (video)

Η Nemea, the historic city of Antiquity, which is reasonably characterized "Greek Tuscany", is located between mountains that surround it and almost hide it. Here spreads the largest concentrated Greek vineyard of 25.000 acres and cultivates the most important and most popular local red variety, Agiorgitiko. The image of the landscape gives the impression of an intricate mosaic, architecturally quite anarchic, and not monotonous and architecturally uniform as is the case in vineyards of northern Europe.

One of its features vineyard of Nemea is that in terms of the orientation of the lines a anarchy, mainly due to the fragmented lot and the morphology of the soils.

The trip to Nemea is a trip to the myth, with Hercules completing his first feat by defeating the lion of Nemea and the nymph offering him a glass of wine with the "black of Nemea".

Nemea obviously does not need to create new myths about its wine, because it is a myth that has its roots deep in the lands of the region.

Nemea (the country of Fliasia in classical antiquity) in the 5th century BC. was rich for the sake of wine, a gift from Dionysus. Fliasios wine was distributed in the games of Nemea, the Nemea which took place every 2 years, second and fourth of each Olympiad. In Antiphanes the Fliasios wine refers to a comedy, while ditches were found around the temple of Nemea where only vines could be cultivated.

At least from the 16th century in Nemea the Agiorgitiko on an almost exclusive basis, as evidenced by the Ottoman archives. So the assumption that the Agiorgitiko variety has been cultivated in the area of ​​Nemea since ancient times, can be a very rational conclusion.

The 1834 When the first local self-government units were created, the municipality of Fliountos and the municipality of Nemea based in Agios Georgios merged into the municipality of Nemea.

The 1869 A wine that was exported to America, Germany, England under the name Acrocorinth and with the recommendation that it was Greek, first appeared in the area of ​​Kato Examilia by the Tripou brothers.

The 1938 The winery of the Cooperative operated and in 1965 its wine was first bottled. In 1971, OPAP Nemea was recognized.

In the last 30 years, an orgasm has prevailed in Nemea. Old wineries are being renovated and new ones are being created. In all the enchanting routes between the vineyards there are signs in the streets with the inscriptions of the scattered everywhere wineries. From the large and impressive wineries, to the small family and traditional wineries, 42 wineries put their signature.

There are 16 villages within the Nemea PDO zone: Nightingales, Ancient Nemea, Ancient Kleones, Asprokambos, Galatas, Gymno, Dafni, Kastraki, Kefalari, Koutsi, Leontio, Bozikas, Malandreni, Petri, Titani and Psari.

The Agiorgitiko is a "versatile" variety that can give from everyday wines, easy to drink, fresh, fruity, to full wines, long aging. This is mainly due to the peculiarity of the area, in terms of altitudes and the varied soil composition. For this reason, the viticultural zone is divided into three different altitude areas, which give a special type of Agiorgitiko wine of Designation of Origin. Starting from above, at 550-850m, where ripening is slower, the grapes have high acidity and less alcohol, characteristics that are ideal for fresh red or rosé wines. Going down to the next level, at 320-550m, the grape has more harmonious characteristics. The acidity, the alcohol and the tannins balance each other, giving some of the most remarkable and emblematic wines of Nemea.

In these areas we will drink deep colored wines, complex nose of ripe red fruits, spices and nuts, with rich mouth, plenty of gentle tannins and great aftertaste. This is the zone that brings out the Agiorgitika of aging. In the last group, at 200-320m, the grapes ripen faster and have a higher alcohol content, which makes them suitable for the production of sweet aromatic wines.

The role in its promotion and promotion is important of Nemea PDO wine of the Association of Winemakers PDO Nemea (SON), founded in 2011, in the form of a civil non-profit company from almost all wineries that are active and located in the wine region of Nemea. An important part in the purposes of the Association is support of Wine Tourism in the area of ​​Nemea through the development of relevant actions and initiatives.

Until today, he co-organizes with the Municipality of Nemea, the Great Days of Nemea, which take place every summer in the city of Nemea and in the villages of the zone, as well as a series of events - exhibitions in various cities of Greece.

Many great wine personalities, as well as young producers with mood and ideas compose the people behind Agiorgitiko. Their names:

Aivalis, Athanassiou, Ktima Anagennisi, Gaia Winery, Gofa Estate, Dryopi Zafeiris Winery, Zacharias, Koroniotis, Koutsodimos, Lantidis, Lafkiotis, Lafazanis, Liakos, Mitravelas, Bairaktaris, Barafakas, Bizios, Nemeion, Nikolaou, Palivos, Papantonis, Papaioannou, Peppas, Pyrgakis, Repanis, Tailor, Semeli, You are dark, Wisdom of Nature, Spyropoulos, Syn+, Charlautis.

The wines of Nemea, The visitable wineries, the beautiful vineyards, in combination with the historical monuments of the area and the small scattered settlements, are a very good reason for a short getaway, while at the same time creating the most suitable conditions for the development of the area into an exciting wine-tourist destination.

The viticultural zone of Nemea, due to size, but also configuration, shows an exceptional inhomogeneity. Different altitudes, soils, microclimates, compose a puzzle of complexity that automatically translates into a multitude of types of wine. Vineyards are elevated and are located in three production zones:

A. the plain, which includes the valleys of Nemea, Ancient Nemea, Ancient Kleonon and Leontiou-Gymnou and extends to the plains and the lower slopes with an altitude of around 200-350 meters.

B. the semi-mountainous, which extends to the mountain slopes in Koutsi and Dafni, at 300-600 meters.

C. and the mountainous one, which includes the valleys in the plateau of Asprokampos, in Psari, Kefalari and on the slopes in Kastraki-Bozika-Titani and reaches 600-800 meters.