CHATZIVARITIS ESTATE
Chatzivaritis is an iconic family-owned winery from northern Greece. It makes stunning terroir-driven wines using a natural and low intervention approach. Father and daughter, both talented winemakers, are working shoulder to shoulder to create some of the finest wines in modern Greece.
About Chatzivaritis
Chatzivaritis estate is located in Goumenissa, a famous ancient winemaking region in central Macedonia. Legend has it that Goumenissa wine, made of Xinomavro and Negoska grapes, was a favourite of Philip, the King of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. Nowadays, Chatzivaritis wine has become a modern legend in Greece and abroad.
The story of the estate started when in 1981, Vagelis Chatzivaryti met his soon to be wife, Olga Iakovidou, who was from Goumenissa. At that time Vagelis worked as a mechanical engineer. Wine was simply his hobby allowing him a time-out from his demanding job. Gradually, winemaking became his dream and his life-time passion.
As Vagelis says, “It is a story made out of long summer Mediterranean-style family gatherings, endless late night discussions intoxicated by the love for winemaking and a wine that speaks for itself.”
Thus, in 1994 Vagelis planted his first 20 hectare vineyard in Goumenissa. Organic farming was chosen from the very start – as the best way to achieve the highest quality of grapes. Further on, in 2007, a stunning boutique winery was built overlooking the vineyards.
The production started with the well-known PDO Goumenissa – that same blend of Xinomavro and Negoska which was so appreciated by the Macedonian King Philip. This elegant wine quickly took its rightful place among the most iconic wines of Greece and moreover, it became an emblem of the appellation.
From Vines To Wines
Over the next 10 years, Chatzivaritis wine range grew as the winery began to produce other reds, whites, and roses. In 2017, the daughter of Vangelis and Olga, Chloi, returned to Greece after studying oenology in France and Portugal and having worked in various wineries across the world.
Chloi brought passion for low intervention and natural wines and started making a new exciting range, working shoulder to shoulder with her father. The stunningly aromatic ‘Ni’ Malagouzia Orange, an amphora-fermented skin-contact wine, is one of Chloi’s creations.
Today Chatzivaritis Estate holds 18 hectares of vineyards, all organically farmed. The focus remains on the indigenous Greek varieties of Xinomavro, Negoska, Roditis, Malagousia, Muscat and Assyrtiko, with smaller plantings of international grapes.
