From the atlas
Avantis Estate
A family estate on Evia's steep Lilantio Plain slopes, farming eleven grape varieties to produce wines from the island's ancient indigenous grapes alongside Rhône transplants.
At A Glance
| |
| Region | Central Greece |
| Appellation | Evia |
| Main grapes | Syrah, Viognier, Mavrokoudoura (Black Kountoura), Malagousia |
| Signature wine | Agios Chronos (Syrah/Viognier), Mavrokoudoura |
| Defining feature | Ancient Greek indigenous varieties on steep Euboean slopes, farmed by hand |
The Producer
The Mountrichas family has kept vines on Evia since the nineteenth century, when Anastasios Mountrichas bought one hundred acres of land on the island. The modern winery dates from 1994, when the family decided to bottle and present those holdings as a single estate. Today Apostolos Mountrichas and his wife Lenga run the winemaking across twenty hectares of cultivated vines on a two-hundred-acre total estate, working eleven grape varieties that stretch from Assyrtiko and Malagousia on the white side to Syrah, Grenache, and the rare indigenous Mavrokoudoura among the reds.
The range has accumulated more than one hundred and fifty awards in international competitions. The Dryos, a white from Malagousia, became in the 1998 Guinness World Records edition the first and only Greek wine to appear there.
Place
Evia is a long island running parallel to the eastern Greek mainland, and the estate sits in its central section, on the Lilantio Plain. The vineyards climb between 250 and 500 metres on southeastern-facing slopes in the Afrati area, steep enough that all cultivation is done by hand. The combination of altitude, aspect, and slope angle pushes the grapes toward slow, even ripening while keeping overnight temperatures cool enough to preserve acidity in both whites and reds.
The steep terrain on Evia draws comparison to the Côte-Rôtie in the northern Rhône, and the estate planted Syrah and Viognier partly in response to that similarity, choosing varieties that have thrived on analogous gradients in France.
Story
Anastasios Mountrichas bought land on Evia shortly after the foundation of the Greek state. The hundred acres he acquired in the nineteenth century remained in family hands across the generations, a vineyard holding long before it was a labelled estate. When the decision came to formalise the winery in 1994, the family already had the land; what followed was building the infrastructure and the range around it.
Apostolos Mountrichas trained as an oenologist and returned with his wife Lenga, herself also an oenologist, to take charge of production. The estate committed to indigenous variety work alongside international grapes: Mavrokoudoura, a rare ancient variety from the Kymi area of Evia also known as Mandilaria, went into serious single-variety vinification with an extended cold skin contact and new Hermitage oak ageing. The Malagousia-based Dryos, meanwhile, became the reference point for the white range when in 1998 its Guinness record recognition arrived, the only Greek wine to achieve that distinction.
Vineyards And Cellar
The twenty hectares under production are planted to eleven varieties: Malagousia, Assyrtiko, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, and Viognier on the white side; Black Kountoura (Mavrokoudoura), Syrah, Grenache Rouge, Merlot, and Mourvèdre among the reds. Slope steepness requires hand work throughout, from pruning to harvest.
In the cellar, Agios Chronos is made from Syrah with a small Viognier component and aged twelve months in oak, a practice borrowed from northern Rhône co-fermentation tradition that adds aromatic lift to the dark-fruited Syrah base. Mavrokoudoura undergoes three days of cold skin contact before extended maceration, then matures in new Hermitage oak barrels. The cold soak extracts colour and aromatic compounds before fermentation begins, and the Hermitage oak contributes tannin and spice that knit with the grape's naturally firm tannins and acidity over a projected eight-to-ten-year cellaring window.
Wines
The red range divides into two distinct approaches. Agios Chronos pairs Syrah (ninety-two percent) with Viognier (eight percent) and oak-ages for twelve months. The co-fermented Viognier is not a blending grape in the conventional sense; it is added to the Syrah must during fermentation, which fixes aromatic compounds and softens the wine's colour over time. A red with aromatic brightness alongside dark fruit, slightly elevated acidity, and tannins the estate describes as refined and velvety. It can cellar for approximately ten years and benefits from thirty minutes of decanting before serving.
Mavrokoudoura stands alone as the estate's indigenous-variety statement: a single-variety wine from Black Kountoura of Kymi, a grape the estate describes as a rare ancient variety that originated on Evia. The cold skin contact and Hermitage oak regime give it grip-forward character with firm tannins and acidity that the estate projects will reward eight to ten years of ageing.
Among the whites, Malagousia produces the Dryos. The rosé range includes a bottling made from one hundred percent Syrah.
In The Glass
Agios Chronos opens with the aromatic lift that Viognier co-fermentation can bring to Syrah: floral notes alongside dark fruit, spice from the oak, and a brightness on the nose that the variety alone would not produce. On the palate, slightly elevated acidity keeps the wine from feeling heavy, while the tannins are described as velvety rather than grippy. The twelve months in oak add spice and texture without overwhelming the fruit.
Mavrokoudoura reads differently: the three-day cold skin contact extracts colour and aromatic depth before fermentation, and the extended maceration builds firm tannins that the Hermitage oak then frames with additional grip and spice. The finish is long and dry, with the grip expected from a variety whose natural character tilts toward tannin and acidity. Both reds are built for the cellar.
A Bottle To Understand It
Agios Chronos is the right first bottle. It is a Syrah-led red, with eight percent Viognier co-fermented into the must rather than blended afterward, then aged twelve months in oak. The Viognier fraction lifts the aromatics in a way that leaves the wine floral and dark-fruited at once, with oak spice and a finish that stays lively from the elevated acidity. It shows what the steep Evia slopes deliver to a Rhône variety, and its projected ten-year cellaring window means it works both now (with thirty minutes of air) and over time.
Anecdote
In the mid-1990s, a young estate on Evia was producing wine from Malagousia, a Greek white variety that most of the wine world had never encountered. The winery was barely two years old when the team submitted the Dryos for consideration for the 1998 Guinness World Records edition. It was accepted: the first Greek wine, and as of that edition the only one, to appear in the records. The recognition was not for production volume, age, or classification, but for a variety-driven white from a recent founding on an island that had not previously figured in international wine conversation. The Dryos and its Malagousia grape were on the record.
Final Word
Avantis Estate grows eleven grape varieties on hand-farmed Evia slopes, making reds from Syrah and the ancient island variety Mavrokoudoura that need years in the cellar and benefit from the steep southeastern aspect that pushes both ripeness and acidity in the same glass.
Sources
- https://winesofgreece.org/wineries/avantis-estate/
- https://www.greeceandgrapes.com/en/wineries/estate-avantis
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/7317001/
- http://www.avantiswines.gr/en/content/agios-chronos-holy-time
- http://avantiswines.gr/en/content/avantis-estate-mavrokoudoura