Harvest 2019
Νormal ripening times for 2019. Winter was cold, with a long period of snow, but without extreme low temperatures. Breaking of the buds started during the 2nd half of March, but a period of unseasonably low temperatures led to late de-budding (10 days later).
Flowering begun mid-May. From May to June few rainfalls occurred, and temperatures were at normal levels. On July 10, a heavy rainfall occurred that luckily did not cause any problems in the vineyard. From mid-July through the end of harvest there were no rainfalls and temperatures were around 30-32 oC during daytime and 19-20 oC during nighttime.
Harvest rolled along. It started on August 12 with Chardonnay. It continued with Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier, while Malagousia and Assyrtiko were picked end of August. The harvest of the red grapes started on August 16 and ended on September 20, when Xinomavro was picked. Generally, weather conditions during harvest favoured phenolic maturation and that even helped Xinomavro, a late-ripening grape variety, to reach ideal maturation.
Harvest 2019 was excellent. It gave slightly bigger production for the whites and slightly smaller for the red (about 5%), with optimal growing and maturation conditions. The white wines are full-bodied with excellent acidity and rich in primary aromas, while the reds have excellent phenolic ripeness, great structure and concentrated varietal aromas. Perhaps the best vintage in the last 20 years.
