Located on the northern coast of Peloponnese Peninsula, Achaia is one of the most important wine producing regions and one of the most charming areas for wine tourism in Greece with beautiful highland vineyards, vines growing next to firs, historic villages, exquisite sights and lovely scenery.
It hosts three varieties of the white vairety Muscat, rosé Roditis and red Mavrodaphne, as well as other local unique and quality varieties such as Mavro Kalavrytino and Lagorthi.
Four different PDO appellations can be found in the region, encompassing rich, citrus-flavored dry white wines made from Roditis and Mavrodaphne and sweet white wines made from Muscat. Although the region’s specialty is the fortified red wine known as Mavrodaphne of Patras – arguably one of Greece’s most famous wines.
There are wide variations in terroir in Achaia, ranging from the coastal plains surrounding the city of Patras to the higher-altitude mountain terrain in the eastern part of the region making the country compatible to popular European vineyards.
COME ALONG WITH THE WINE CONNOISSEURS TO DELVE INTO THE ROUTES OF ACHAIA
Archaeological Museum of Patras
The historical buildings of Achaia Clauss operating as a wine museum
Vouraikos gorge – Cogged railroad
Monastery of Mega Spileon
The vineyards of Mega Spileon in Vouraikos gorge
Discover more activities in https://www.kayak.fr/Patras.3342.guide
SELECT A WINE TOUR
& VISIT ACHAIA
ACHAIA CLAUSS, A MILESTONE IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY
Located on the namesake hill, ACHAIA CLAUSS – a milestone in our country’s history and one of the topmost tourist attractions in Achaean region – was founded in 1861 by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss.
Fascinated by the cultural quality of the Achaean capital and the aromatic dynamics of its vines, Gustav Clauss decided to establish the first oenological community in Greece. He builts an entire residential complex with spire-shaped cathedral towers that allowed an entire village to live, work and develop around the central core of the winery.
Among various types of wine, the ACHAIA CLAUSS Company in 1873 produced the famous sweet red wine Mavrodaphne in honor of Daphne, his Greek beloved with the beautiful black eyes (Mavro means black in Greek), who died at a young age.
FOLLOW THE WINE CONNOISSEURS IN A THRILLING TASTING JOURNEY AT ACHAIA CLAUSS WINERY.
Gustav Clauss is considered to be the inventor and establisher of the concept of Wine Tourism in Greece, following the visit of Austro-Hungarian Empress Sissi in 1885, in whose honor he even named a cellar ‘Imperial Cellar’ in which there are a total of 167 ‘Mavrodaphne’ barrels with a capacity of 1.975 lt. to 13.195 lt., four of which have representations from Greek mythology.
The year of 1899 was a milestone year, as Gustav Clauss brought a harvest from the mountain slopes of Kalavryta and bottled Demestica for the first time in Greece which became the ambassador of Greek winemaking methods, cutting across borders and rapidly spreading the reputation of Gustav’s winery around the world.
ACHAIA CLAUSS now produces its wines in modern facilities, a few kilometers away from its historic buildings. A true oasis, it passes on its beauty and history over time to its thousands of visitors and to those who love it and care for preserving its unique essence.
DELVE INTO THE ROUTES OF GREEK WINE CULTURE…
GORGES & GRAPES
The monks of the Monastery of Mega Spileo have cultivated the historic vineyard of the monastery, known as “Mega Ambelos”, at an altitude of 850 meters, above the Vouraikos Gorge, since 1500 AC.
This timeless vineyard – ownership of the monastery’s monks in the past – is one of the most alluring sites in the region with old buildings, a charming chapel and an impressive grape press. Back in those days at the end of the vine harvest, wine was collected in the monastery’s underground cellars for the process of aging.
In 1999, CAVINO winery takes over and revives this heritage with great respect to tradition establishing Domain Mega Spileo, bringing soon to Greek and international markets the highest quality premium wines, such as Lagorthi, Mavro Kalavrytino and Roditis from the single vineyard of the monastery of Mega Spileo (‘Grand Cave’).
All of the produced wines of Domain Mega Spileo, are worthy representatives of our country’s wine history and culture and have many distinctions, such as, GOLD-BEST OF SHOW GREECE RED-MUNDUS VINI 2018 and GOLD MEDAL-DECANTER 2017.
In 2009, International Wine and Spirits magazine, UK, distinguished CAVINO, as The Best Greek Winery of the year.
FOLLOW THE WINE CONNOISSEURS IN A THRILLING TASTING JOURNEY AT CAVINO WINERY.
DELVE INTO THE ROUTES OF GREEK WINE CULTURE…
A PIONEERING WINERY
The winery is built on the rock, in six different levels with stunning views towards the Corinthian Gulf and utilizes the natural gravity-flow in every stage of the wine making process. Stavroula Kourakou, president of the International Organization of Vine and Wine, claims that the local vineyards are unique in the world regarding soil and climate.
Realizing the great potential of Aigialeia and the old Greek variety Roditis, the oenologist Aggelos Rouvalis (Bordeaux alumnus), former president of Greek Wine Federation, founded in 1991 his winery – the highest winery in Greece – on the Aigialeian slopes.
This was one of the pioneering establishments that contributed to the upgrading of the quality of the Greek wines in the 1990′ s. From the indigenous variety of the mountainous Roditis, came Asprolithi, a wine that symbolizes the rebirth of Greek wine.
Using ancient knowledge and experience acquired through the years and combining them with modern science, oenology and viticulture, ROUVALIS, nowadays, produces distinctive wines with character and of the highest quality that express the unique characteristics of the Aigialeian terroirs.
The winery is one of the few gravity wineries in Greece where all the viticulture practices, such us, pruning, green pruning and green harvest or grape harvest, are carried out by hand and with the outmost care for each and every vine. The family owned vineyards are certified for organic cultivation, as well as, lot of the vineyards of Rouvalis’ collaborating vine growers.
In addition to Roditis, you will also taste the legendary red variety of the area, Mavrodaphne, in a dry vinification from the best clone of Tsigello. This wine has won the DECANTER’s highest score for Greek red wine over the last 20 years .
You will also taste Kydonitsa, the so far unknown variety of the Peloponnese, which is in experimental winemaking stage. This particular variety has been acknowledged by Jose Vouillamoz (the writer of Wine Grapes with cowriter J.Robinson MW-) as a potent one, being characterized as able to pass from the local recognition to global acclaim.
FOLLOW THE WINE CONNOISSEURS IN A THRILLING TASTING JOURNEY AT ACHAIA ROUVALIS WINERY.
DELVE INTO THE ROUTES OF GREEK WINE CULTURE…
