Gentilini Winery

In Minies near Argostoli in Kefalonia at an altitude of 60 meters above sea level and a short distance from it is Gentilini Winery.

Gentilini is the name of the godmother of Spyros Kosmetatos, the last descendant of an old family of Kefalonia. The Gentilini are from Este, near Padua, and Marinos Gentilini was a Venetian army engineer who built the fortress of Assos in 1593. He eventually married and settled on the island and was written in the Libro d'Oro.

In the 1960s, the Spyros Kosmetatos, a descendant of the family, having spent two years in the vineyards and at the South African Wine Institute in Stellenbosch, wanted to make a wine on the island that could be distinguished in the international arena. After many experiments (in fact for some time as his oenologist, the great winemaker and president of the Association of Greek Wine Producers worked George Skouras), the first crop was produced in 1984 and since then the wines of the estate have been channeled to the market of Greece and England.

The 2002 the Marianna Kosmetatou, the daughter of Spyros Kosmetatos, and her husband Petros Markantonatos gave a new impetus to Gentilini winery.

With constant experimentation for the highest quality wines, they devoted themselves to the local varieties (because in the beginning Spyros Kosmetatos focused on Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Syrah) and especially to the famous Robola and the local variety Mavrodafni. In fact, since 2007 they started investing in the purchase of mountainous plots of land in the OPAP zone of Robola.

The Gentilini estate is located near the airport and near Argostoli and is very easily accessible to wine tourists visitors to the island. The winery can be visited all year round and so in its beautiful gardens one can visit the vineyards, but also try the vendetti wines. Eager and highly trained, the manager of the winery George Koukouvinos and the oenologist Alexandros Doukas guide us to the secrets of the Kefalonian vineyard.

Production at the Gentilini winery are about 80.000 bottles, most of which are for export. Its most important labels are: from white Gentilini white (Sauvignon Blanc, Moschato, Tsaousi), Gentilini Kefalonia (100% Robola) and Gentilini Robola, from red Gentilini Eclipse 2013 (Mavrodafni) and Gentilini Sy rose the Gentilini rose (Moschofilero).

The Wild Paths is the wine that is the spearhead of the Gentilini winery. It consists exclusively of pre-fermented fermented in oak barrels with wild yeast isolated from their own grapes, and is the sophisticated and improved version of an older wine on the estate, the Robola Cellar Selection. Robola Wild Paths is a limited edition, great wine, which circulates on average in 3.000 bottles per year and in about 150 magnum. The Etrusco restaurant in Corfu, the Spondi in Pagrati, most Greek wine bars, give prestige to their lists by including it. But some of the best restaurants abroad, such as Zaytinya in Washington, Mavrommatis in Paris, Milos in New York and Establishment in Sydney, have it in their cellars. Receives flattering reviews, great ratings and reviews from reputable, international tasters and popular magazines such as Decanter.