ELLOINOS » Christos Kokkalis

The Greek Le Pin – Harvest and winemaking at the Kokkalis Estate

elloinos — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:12:15 +0000

First hand practical experience in order to learn more about a subject is almost always something to strive for. Whenever I get the chance to become involved with the work that takes place in a vineyard or at a winery, I jump at it.

The story of Christos Kokkalis is well known – he is the man who was a pharmacist in Germany for most of his life, then decided to sell out and start making wine in Greece. He wanted to show the world that great quality could be produced in Greece. He had no prior winemaking knowledge and took his chance. He produces 3 labels: 1) MOVA, an Agiorgitiko/Cabernet Sauvignon blend; 2) Syrah; and 3) Trilogia, a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. All wines are stunning; Trilogia has become an icon that regularly outdoes French Grand Cru wines under blind tasting conditions.

I just returned from Skafidia, where I spent 2 days with him helping at the harvest and the winemaking. This was a great experience and I learned a lot – not only of the mechanics involved, but also about the decision making process. The Cabernet grapes were harvested under perfect conditions the week before. Suddenly last weekend, heavy rains hit the vineyard. The Syrah grapes are very fragile, and many were split open. Christos explained that the skins of Syrah split very easy, it is similar to glass breaking. After the skins were damaged, the wasps started circling in quickly to take some juicy bites. The risk of disease also increased. The mood on Monday morning was clouded, although the sun was out. Despite the heat turning up, the vineyard was still muddy. Christos had given the order to pick the grapes at dawn – he said that conditions until this weekend were perfect. He would have liked to start the harvest of the Syrah one week later, but his hands were tied.

All grapes were handpicked, placed into plastic boxes that were stacked on a platform of a tractor; from there the boxes were placed on a truck and immediately transported to the winery. The winery is not really a winery – it is a large garage in the back of the private house of Christos. It functions as the winery, and it is here that all the winemaking takes place. There are no automated processes – every step of the winemaking process is done mechanical.

The grapes filled the air with their aromas, I just stood there for a minute and sniffed, it was wonderful. The boxes were emptied into the crusher, 4 boxes at a time. The crushed must of the first two loads was transferred into large plastic buckets, after this all must was transported into the stainless steel tanks. The large plastic buckets were placed to the side, and we proceeded to crush this mass of pulp by hand and sieved it in order to collect the pure juice. This juice then has a crucial role: A part of it is mixed with enzymes and added to the stainless steel tanks that by now started filling up with the must. Another part was used to mix with sulphur – the smell of it was hard to take, I nearly fainted. This was also added carefully to the must. Another part is used as a sample. We delivered this to the oinologist who ran lab tests. A couple of hours later Christos took me and showed me how to prepare the yeast. Warm water was combined with sugar; the yeast was carefully mixed in by hand. The resulting blend was then transferred to the tanks that by now were pumped over continuously.

After hearing the results of the lab test, the mood of Christos lightened up a lot. He had feared that the acidity levels might turn out low, which they did not. Apparently the harvest took place just in time. The grapes delivered a lot less juice than in other years, as the water inside the grapes dried out quickly after the rain had split the skins. Potential alcohol levels remained high, so no premature fermentation had occurred. The must was much more concentrated than in any other year; this just might result in a super rich wine. It is too early to tell now, but over the next 2 to 3 weeks Christos will closely follow the evolution of the Syrah.

Monday night we went out for dinner in a fish taverna. After the meal we had a bottle Syrah 2006 to celebrate the harvest. The wine has a deep purple colour and really started to open up after an hour. It has big fat aromas of cassis, mocca, spices and hints of vanilla. It is rich and fullbodied. In my opinion it might even outlive the great Trilogia 2006. The Syrah did not tire out at all – it only got more interesting with time.

On Tuesday, we brought in the second half of the harvest and repeated the work from Monday, but now everybody was in a good mood. Another experience for me was to taste my youngest Trilogia ever, the 2009 vintage that was now 5 days old. It was totally fascinating to see how grape juice transforms into wine. After 5 days, I could already taste the rich fruits and the tannins were very evident. This was not any longer juice, but also not yet wine. It made me think of a butterfly that picks out a foot of his cocoon, ready to enter another world.

Working week in Germany Part 3

elloinos — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:51:00 +0000

On Thursday, I had a leisure day in Hamburg. I met with Christos Kokkalis at lunch time and we strolled around the city, had coffee, and as always talked a lot about Greek wines. Late afternoon I received a call from Mario Scheuermann, who asked if I could provide him with some more Greek wines, as he had enjoyed the tasting so much.

In the evening we met again with the lovely Sommelier couple Dagmar Willich and Rene Baumgart. We were in for a treat, as they had organised a table with a great view in the Carls Brasserie, the newest member of the Jacob dynasty. What a great setting this place has – our table was perfectly located to enjoy the views of the harbour and the Elbphilharmony. The food was delicious, and the conversation was flowing easily. Both Dagmar and Rene are such friendly, knowledgeable, and interesting people, I am really glad to have met them.

Friday morning I drove to Mario Scheuermann and provided him with another 6 Greek wines. After this, I had an appointment with a wine importer. I had a very fruitful discussion, and I left 30 labels there, from which a selection will be presented by me in August. It was time to make my way back to Siegen. There was heavy traffic and the drive took nearly 7 hours. On Saturday morning I took the plane from Duesseldorf to Athens, ready to tackle the workload that expected me there. It still amazes me how quickly work can pile up!

Working week in Germany Part 2: Meeting the big guys

elloinos — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:54:00 +0000

On Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:00 am and drove 5 hours to Hamburg. I arrived at the Hotel Baseler Hof around 11:30 am. A Twitter meeting was planned for the afternoon. This was organised by Mario Scheuermann alas weinreporter, who is a very well known wine critic and journalist. The agenda was for me to present and discuss Greek wines. Also invited were Dr. Eckhard Supp alas enoworldwine, who is the publisher of ENO WorldWine, as well as Michael W. Pleitgen alas weinakademie, who runs a Wine Consulting and Education Business in Berlin. Mario Scheuermann’s charming wife odorfa also was expected to join us. I had invited my good friend Christos Kokkalis as a surprise guest.

The Tschebull Restaurant was chosen as the venue. At midday, I transported the wines to be presented to the Restaurant in order to cool the whites and decant some reds. The setting was impressive, the Tschebull is a very modern and light-flooded place, at a very central location. At 2:30 pm I picked up Christos Kokkalis from the Central Railway Station. He checked into his hotel and we arrived at the Tschebull just after 3:00 pm.

After a short while, Mario Scheuermann and Eckhard Supp joined us. Michael Pleitgen was delayed, as he was training some chefs and sommeliers in Luebeck. We had a very lively and constructive discussion about the Greek wine market. The presentation/tasting started at 4:00 pm. I had selected eight different wines, 2 whites and 6 reds, out of about 30 labels that I carried to Hamburg. Christos brought a bottle of his 2006 Trilogia. We took time to taste and discuss every single wine, and odorfa joined us half way through. It is always fascinating to hear top tasters arguing with each other about personal preferences, as this just shows that complex wines waken different perceptions in different people. Everyone at the table agreed that all wines presented were captivating – and half of the wines shown received particular high praise. I was of course very pleased with this, as I believe so strongly in the quality of selected Greek wines available today.

Michael Pleitgen arrived at 6:00 pm, he interviewed me and tasted a few wines as he had to catch the train to Berlin at 07:00 pm. Eckhard Supp, Mario Scheuermann and odorfa stayed until 08:00 pm. Christos and myself were then joined by the Sommelier couple Rene Baumgart und Dagmar Willich for dinner at Tschebull. I arrived back at the Baseler Hof at 10:30 pm and surfed the Internet. Mario Scheuermann had already twittered about the Greek wine tasting, the next morning I found articles by Michael Pleitgen and Eckhard Supp, also reporting about the event.

Links to reports in German:

Weinakademie Berlin: Mutiger junger Mann

ENO WorldWine: Griechenland

Drinktank: Tetramythos

weinreporter: 24.06. 2:03 pm, 24.06. 2:09 pm, 24.06. 2:09 pm 2, 24.06. 2:11 pm, 24.06 2:13 pm, 24.06. 02:14 pm, 24.06. 2:16 pm, 24.06. 2:20 pm

Meeting with Joanna Locke, MW, at the Wine Society UK

elloinos — Wed, 27 May 2009 07:00:00 +0000

On the 26th of May I had the great pleasure of presenting some Greek wines to Joanna Locke, Master of Wine, at the Wine Society in Stevenage, UK. I woke up at 04:30 am and made my way to the Athens airport. I arrived in London Stansted at 09:30 am local time, boarded the Stansted Express into London Liverpool Street, took the tube to London’s King Cross and from there the train to Stevenage.

I met Jo at 1 pm and presented three wines each from two estates: From Parparoussis (1) Nemea Reserve 2003 (100% Agiorgitiko), (2) Taos 2004 (100% Mavrodaphne), (3) Muscat of Rio 2003 (sweet white from 100% Muscat of Rio of Patras). I also showed the Kokkalis range: (1) Mova 2006 (Agiorgitiko, Cabernet Sauvignon), (2) Syrah 2006 (100% Syrah), Trilogia 2006 (100% Cabernet Sauvignon). All wines showed very well. Interestingly enough, the styles of the wines from the two winemakers come from opposite spectrums: Parparoussis produces very elegant, feminin wines that focus on the pure fruits, Kokkalis wines are powerful, concentrated and masculine. However, all wines were very seductive. The bottles were opened there, so the wines really did not have time to settle and breathe properly. Luckily Jo told me that she likes to evaluate wines over a minimum 24-hour period, revisting them several times to see how they evolve. I find this to be a very honest process of evaluating wines, rather than just having a quick swirl and sip.

Jo is a very charming and warm person with about two decades of wine experience – I believe she became a MW in 1990, and also chaired the Institute of Masters of Wine in 2008. It is so nice to see that one is still able to find professional wine-buyers that are very much down to earth and who simply love the work they are doing, especially in today’s market environment. I am glad that she took the time to see me, and found our discussions very helpful. After our meeting, I visited the wine shop of the Wine Society (this is the only shop in the UK, a second one operates in France), where only members can make purchases. I made my way back to the airport (via the same route I came in) and arrived back home in Athens at 02:30 am. Quite a long day, but very much worth the effort.

Visit at Christos Kokkalis

elloinos — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:43:00 +0000

On the 15th May I made my way to Skafidia to pay another visit to Christos Kokkalis. It is always such a pleasure to spend some time with him! The car journey was very pleasant. May is such a nice month, as everything is in full bloom, the landscapes are beautiful to look at. After the 3 1/2 hour journey, I arrived around midday. Christos’s sister and niece had stayed with him for the last days and we drove them to Pyrgos where they wanted to catch the bus to Athens. Afterwards we made our way to the sea and had a nice lunch at a fish taverna, which was followed by a relaxing siesta at Christos’s house. Late afternoon we drove to his vineyard, the one where I planted vines in March. They had already grown nicely, most were about 20 to 30 cm in height. Christos showed me how to thin out the vinebranches and leaves from the Syrah vines that were growing vigorously (they were planted 7 years ago). I love learning about the work in the vineyards, and I feel very privileged having such a great teacher! At about 10 pm we went to a restaurant where some friends of Christos were waiting for us. It was a great evening, I had brought along a bottle of Kuehling-Gillot Kreuz Spaetburgunder 2006, which Christos really liked. He brought a bottle of his Trilogia 2006 – what a wine! The nose was full of cassis and coffee, it is extremly rich on the palate with bags of tannins. This is the best Trilogia to date, we were all struck by its density. Christos also brought a bottle of Volnay Marie Mairgnot Les Chenes Premier Cru 1997. It had a bit of a rough time as we served it after the Trilogia, nevertheless it was a good wine that it is still going. I stayed overnight at Christos’s house and we went to bed about 1:30 am. In the morning we had breakfast and coffee, some more discussions about Greek wines, and I left at 09:30 am and made my way back home.

Lunch with Kokkalis at the Codice Blu in Kolonaki

elloinos — Sat, 02 May 2009 13:14:00 +0000

On the 1st May I met Christos Kokkalis for a late afternoon lunch at the Codice Blu Restaurant in the trendy Kolonaki area in Athens. Christos was still in town, and we decided to get together for some more discussions about Greek wines. One of his two lucky agents who distribute tiny quantities of his wines in Greece, Kostas Boutopoulos, also joined us. It was a nice sunny afternoon, and we sat outside. We enjoyed some pizzas and two bottles of Mova. It was a very relaxing atmosphere and we spend three hours at the restaurant. Afterwards me in Christos went to have some coffee. Christos is such an entertaining character, it always a great pleasure to spend some time with him. We had some more fruitful discussions, and I deeply appreciate his insights and thoughts.

Meeting with Greek winemakers

elloinos — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:15:00 +0000

Yesterday I had the great pleasure of welcoming a number of Greek winemakers at my home. Apostolos Thimiopoulos flew in from Thessaloniki, Christos Kokkalis and Thanassis Parparoussis shared a taxi from Pyrgos/Patras, Antonis Papantonis came from Nemea and Dimitris Gouravas from Athens. The first person arrived at 09:30 am, the last left at 08:00 pm – we used the whole day to discuss the promotion of Greek wines abroad. It was a very fruitful meeting, as many issues were tackled in great detail. My wife and my sister-in-law prepared great food, and I served the following wines from my cellar: A magnum of Zwalu 2003 Neil Ellis/Werner Naekel, single bottles of Masseto 2001, Casanova di Neri Pietradopice 2001, Casanova di Neri Brunello 2001, and for dessert Parparoussis Mavrodaphne 2003. This was a superb meeting and an important step to make Greek wines better known abroad. It is extremly important to work together as a team and I am very greatful for all the support I received. And of course it is always extremly useful to get the insights and honest thoughts of the people who spend their lifetime making the fascinating product called wine!

Meeting with Julia Harding, Master of Wine, in London

elloinos — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:57:00 +0000

I just came back from a 5-day trip to London, where I took my three eldest children for a Easter treat. We stayed with different friends and I took my kids to all the tourist attractions – a double-decker bus tour, Tower of London, Natural History Museum, London Aquarium, London Eye, Science Museum, Musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat), Primrose Hill…

On 15th April, which was our last night, I had booked a room at the Hyatt Andaz Hotel in Liverpool Street. Actually, we were upgraded to stay at a suite, which was perfect. I did bring 6 different wines along from Athens, as I had arranged to meet with Julia Harding, Master of Wine and the right hand of Jancis Robinson , Master of Wine. I arrived at the hotel at 6 pm and went to their flagship restaurant 1901 to see the sommelier. Joris Beijn is the head sommelier and wine buyer at the Andaz. I explained my plans and he was extremly helpful: He decanted the 5 red wines, cooled the white wine, organised a large private table at the 1901, provided glasses and spittoon – I am extremly grateful for his efforts. Joris simply wanted to help, and he went out of his way to provide the best service. Julia arrived at 8 pm and we made our way to the 1901. Julia was impressed with the venue and the setting, and was delighted to see a spittoon I did bring the following wines, which were tasted in this order:

Palivou Estate – Terra Leone – Ammos reserve – 2005 – Agiorgitiko
Parparoussis – Taos – 2004 (released in 2008) – Mavrodaphne
Dalamaras – Paliokalias – 2006 – Xinomavro
Thimiopoulos – Ghi ke Uranos – 2006 – Xinomavro
Kokkalis – Trilogia – 2006 – Cabernet Sauvignon
Claudia Papayianni – Claudia Papayianni white – 2007 – 40% Malagousia, 30% Assyrtico, 30% Chardonnay, 4 month aged in oak

We spent two hours tasting and discussing the wines. It was extremly interesting to see how a busy Master of Wine with lots and lots of tasting experience is evaluating the wines. Julia has a great personality and shared all her thoughts. She liked all the wines and of course wrote down her tasting notes in private, so no insights from me on scores etc But this was not the reason I wanted to meet her anyway. I wanted to show her wines from Greece that only few people know abroad. Wines that show their terroir. Wines one can talk about for more than just a few minutes. I believe I have succeeded in doing so. I can only reveal that Joris, who tried all wines before decanting them, was extremly fond of the Parparoussis Taos and the Kokkalis Trilogia. Julia commented on the Papayianni white that she was impressed with the density and the aromas of the wine (note: the vines are all still very young, as this is a fairly new estate), and that the world needs more wines like this in a similar price range.

When we finished the tasting after two hours, I left the opened wines with Joris to enjoy them with his staff. I had to rush back to my room, where the DVD I had put on for my children just before I met with Julia had long finished. Luckily they were tired out from the days before and had gone to bed.

Julia, thanks for giving me the opportunity to show you some Greek wines! I had a great time that evening. Joris, thank you so much for your kind help, it was appreciated a lot!

Lunch with Christos Kokkalis at Grada Nuevo Thessaloniki

elloinos — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:08:00 +0000

On the 6th March I met Christos Kokkalis first for a coffee, then for a 5 hour lunch at the Grada Nuevo restaurant in Thessaloniki. The restaurant has its own wine cellar and the wine list has a great selection. The owner brought us small plates of different food, everything was extremly delicious. We did not order anything from the menu, instead trusting the owner’s selection of dishes. We had a lovely time, discussing wines, work in the vineyards, the Greek and foreign taste for wines etc. Time was simply flying by. I spend annother great day with a great man!

Greek wines – a busy start of the new year

elloinos — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 11:50:00 +0000

My first trip of the year (22.01.) took me to Nemea where I spent a couple of hours with the very generous Mr. George Palivos of the Palivou Estate. We tasted the full range of wines, starting with the basic Anemos white (Roditis), Anemos red (Agiorgitiko), and Vissino rose (Agiorgitiko/Syrah). Next came the Estate wines: the white Stone Hills (Chardonnay/Malagousia) and the red Nemea (Agiorgitiko). These were followed by the red premium wines from the Terra Leone range: Ammos reserve (Agiorgitiko), a Merlot, and a Cabernet Sauvignon. We finished with two dessert wines – Sun’s Art white (Muscat) and Sun’s Art red (Agiorgitiko). Mr. Palivos clearly is a gifted vintner, as the whole range of wines tasted was superb. The quality of the basic wines is already at a high standard, and every level up in price from there is more than matched with the improving quality. From there I drove through vineyards of Koutsi and enjoyed the breathtaking beauty of nature. I did not meet a car for quite some time, I finally flagged down the first I saw to ask for directions (it is quite easy to get lost in the mountains). The driver opened the trunk of his car instead and gave me an unlabelled bottle of wine. He said he was a hobby vintner and I should try his wine (Agiorgitiko/Syrah). He showed me his vineyard, and only after I returned home did I discover that his vineyard lies right next to Gaia’s! I look forward to opening the bottle soon. Thank god I still have his business card in case his wine is mindblowing, who knows, maybe I’ll source the next talented Nemea vintner At Ktima Driopi I found only a builder who worked on a new building. I remembered that Ktima Teselepos had just taken full control of the Driopi Estate, so I decided on the spot to drive to Tripolis. There I was able to meet the owner, Mr. Yiannis Tselepos. He was one of the pioneers of the 1980s, establishing his estate quickly as a top quality boutique winery. He is a larger than life character, and I enjoyed our discussions a lot. By now it was getting late, and I arrived back home in the evening after a 400 km daytrip.

Four days later I visited the VorOino at the Grande Bretagne Hotel in Athens. This event is organized by the Wine Producers Association of the Northern Greece Vineyards, and about 40 wineries showed their wines. The event was overcrowded and extremly busy. At Ktima Alpha, I had to stand in line to taste the wines. Luckily I was able to have chats with Angelos Iatridis, the winemaker of Ktima Alpha, Evangelos Gerovassiliou, the owner of Gerovassiliou Estate, and Thanassis Arvantidis, who together with his brother George owns the Arvantidi Vineyards.

On 29.01. I left at 6 am, as I was invited by Christos Kokkalis who came to fame with his Trilogia (Cabernet Sauvignon) wine. He is located in Illia, close to Pyrgos, and I was excited to meet him. Mr. Kokkalis lived and worked as a pharmacist in Germany for 40 years. His dream was to produce a world class Cabernet wine in Greece. He began to buy land and plant vines. For a few years, he continued to work in Germany while producing wines in Greece. He finally sold his pharmacy and became a full-term winemaker. His story is amazing, as he did not have any wine background, he is completely self-taught. I arrived at about 9:30 am, at which time he had just woken up, having spent the fornight drinking lots of good wines with his friends. We talked about wines, tasted barrel samples of 2007 and 2008 Syrah and 2008 Trilogia in his garage, where he stores the barrels and winemaking equipment. The quality of his wines is of the very highest standard, even his basic Nova (Agoirgitiko/Cabernet Sauvignon) is extremly well structured. It was freezing, and his two dogs were jumping up and down on me, while I admired the barrel samples. It was almost comical, me shivering, holding the glass in my hand and trying not to tumble while the dogs jumped on me. He then took me to his friend at Ktima Stavropoulos, where organic wines are being made. I tried the white Linon (Assyrtico), and Ilis (Merlot), the former was fresh and charming, the latter dominated by wood, but soft and elegant nevertheless. The three of us had lunch at a taverna, Mr. Kokkalis then intoduced me to Dimitris Skafidas, the winemaker at Ktima Mercouri. The Mercouri Estate in my eye offers a great range of niche wines, even for Greece. They had in the past strong connections with Italy, and planted quite a few Italian grape varieties. One finds blends like Refosco/Mavrodaphne, Mourvedre/Avgoustiatis, Tourkopoula/Ribolla Gialla among others. This estate is a true wine lovers paradise, there are so many interesting wines to try, and all are exceptionally well made. I was able to discuss the eight wines I tried with the Mr. Skafidas, who kindly took the time to taste with me. By now it was already afternoon, but I had another treat waiting! Mr. Kokkalis called his good friend Thanassis Parparoussis, who is located near Patras and said I was coming to taste his wines. Mr. Parparoussis came with his car to the Patras exit I took to meet me and show me the way to his estate. We toured the winery, then went to his home where he had prepared a table with bread, fresh cheeses, water, and of course the wines. He had even decanted a wine for me after he received Mr. Kokkalis’ call. We tasted together six of his wines, the quality is simpy outstanding. Amongst others, we tried a white (Athiri/Assyrtico), the red Reserve (Agiorgitiko), the red Taos (Mavrodaphne), the sweet white Muscat Rio Patras and the sweet red Mavrodaphne. I was deeply moved by the experience. At 6 pm, I started my journey home and arrived at 10 pm, having clocked up 720 km.

On 08.02. I visited the Oinotelia exhibition at the Megaro Mousikis in Athens around midday. About 40 wineries showed their wines. The exhibition was extremly well organised, and I tasted about 80 wines in four hours. I was glad to taste the new Escapades range, a Stellenbosch (South Africa) joint venture of Greek winemakers Gerovassiliou and Tsaktsarlis, as well as marketer Soldatos. Other highlights included Sclavos, Karipidis, Kikones, Panagiotopoulos, Ampeloeis, Tsilili, Oenogenesis, Fragou, Antonopoulos and others. I was most impressed with the range of wines from Ktima Argirou, all of which were fantastic.

Two days later, Mr. Kokkalis called me. When I visited him, I gave him two bottles of Daumas Gassac, 1995 and 1985. He drank them the night before his call, and wanted to thank me. He mentioned that he was in Athens the next day, and I invited him for dinner at my home. I picked him up from Kifissia tube station at 730 pm on the next evening. My wife had prepared dinner, and I served a magnum of Domaine Tempier 1990 (Bandol) with the main course, followed by a half bottle of Chateau Climens 1989 with desert. Both bottles came from my own wine cellar. We had a great evening, extremly enjoyable with lots of stories and laughter. Christos (he said good wine friends have to call each other by their first names) originally had planned to get home early, but it was midnight when he departed. It was simply one of these magical evenings, where everything fits and the time just goes by so fast. He offered me to come to his estate in summer, to show me how he makes the wine. This I will most certainly do, as he is like a great artist when it comes to making great wine!