"Lively, racy and firmer than most Greek reds. Quite upright, with a bit of tannin. And lots of fruit. Well put together. Drink 2025 – 2032" 16++ Points, Jancis Robinson, Jul 2023

"Vibrant fruit, with barely right raspberry. Fresh, grippy tannins and a lasting finish." - Silver, International Wine Challenge

The AGIORGITIKO series is completed with the creation of AGIORGITIKO by GAIA. Rich and structured, it is balanced between fruit and the oak wood. Characterized by ripe fruity notes and balanced oak flavors our AGIORGITIKO by GAIA can be aged for 4-6 years to acquire a more complex flavor and evolve a velvety wine. We recommend pairing it with red meat dishes that are rich, intense and spicy, at a temperature between 16^ο – 18^οC.

Soil consists of a shallow (70-80cm) clay layer that lies upon the lime mother soil with relatively neutral ph. Low organic content, like most of the limestone soils in Greece. On the slopes of the hills where most of the vineyards are located, the soils drain quite well but are exposed to erosion. The winery was built in 1997 at the heart of the private vineyard in Koutsi, Nemea at an altitude of 550m. Our winery in Koutsi is housed in a contemporary industrial building with magnificent views of the plains of Nemea and the valley of Asopos River, around 350m below. Its capacity is 3,060 hectoliters while its production equipment and the high-quality control systems offer to the oenologist every state-of-the-art instrument for a vertical production of high quality wines.

ABOUT THE ESTATE

Gaia Estate is one of the pioneers of the modern Greek wine revolution, founded on the Aegean island of Santorini in 1994 by winemakers Leon Karatsalos and Yiannis Paraskevopoulos (who also opened a winery in Nemea, on the mainland, in 1997).

Gaia Estate is one of Greece’s leading wineries. They are based in two places: Nemea, in the Peloponnese, and the island of Santorini. In Santorini, they grow Assyrtiko on volcanic soil with zero clay. ‘You can’t build water reserves there, leading to low yield,’ says Giannis. ‘It also means zero phylloxera, so ungrafted vines.’ The age of the vines here is a speculation because of the way they are renewed above ground from time to time. The vines are trained in a braided basket shape configuration. By counting the rings (new one added every year) you can date the vine. Every year the grower assesses the yield of each vine, and when one is lagging, they decapitate the vine, but leave the same root, which generates a new plant. This happens every 80-100 years. This means the roots are very old – perhaps four of five centuries older, or even older than this. The vines existed on Santorini since 1500 BCE, which makes these among the oldest in the world. Rainfall is sparse and the soil can’t retain it easily.