DIAMANTIS WINERY
This small family-run winery takes credit for reviving the Moschomavro grape, one of the most exciting emerging varieties in Greece, as well as for putting Siatista, a long-forgotten mountain region, on the international wine map.
About Diamantis
Diamantis winery is found in the isolated mountainous region of Siatista, in north-western Macedonia. Its cool climate is not influenced by the sea and provides unique growing conditions, distinctive from the rest of Greece. Thus, the grapes ripen slowly, gradually achieving high sugar levels while maintaining fresh acidity, hence the freshness and the good structure always found in a Diamantis wine.
The unique terroir of Siatista has a winemaking tradition which dates back to at least the 15th Century. That said, many historical records were lost during wars and revolutions, so the true history of Siatista remains somewhat obscure.
Diamantis Winery itself dates back to the beginning of the 20th century when the first vines were planted on the Diamantis family land. The vines were Xinomavro, as well as several local Siatista grapes, one of them being Mochomavro. With time, the grape growing in this region became unprofitable and by the 1970s most of the Siatista vineyards were neglected. Diamantis winery, however, managed to survive the rough times.
Photo credit: Jancisrobinson.com
Photo credit: Jancisrobinson.com
From Vines To Wines
Fast forward to the 1990s, the winery’s focus became reviving the local Siatista grapes, particularly the almost extinct Moschomavro. Konstantinos Diamantis found some old Moschomavro vines and personally picked and transferred the cuttings to a local plant nursery. He then replanted a small Moschomavro vineyard.
Today the winery is run by his son, Dimitros Diamantis, the third generation winemaker. He is currently the only producer in Greece making red wines of 100% Moschomavro. Diamantis wine made of Moschomavro is utterly captivating: fragrant, with ample freshness and aromas of juicy red fruits, flowers, as well as elegant notes of crushed stones.
Thanks to the hard work of the Diamantis family, there is growing interest towards the Moschomavro variety across Greece nowadays. In fact, any new plantings of this grape found elsewhere in the country come from the original plant material provided by Konstantinos Diamantis.
Diamantis vineyard is organically farmed. The grapes are hand-picked and go through a rigorous manual sorting process. Furthermore, winemaking approach here is low interventionist. Therefore, the fermentation is spontaneous, with wild yeasts and minimum sulphites. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered, to preserve their primary aromas. Diamantis wine, be it Moschomavro or Xinomavro, is always gorgeously fresh and truly refined, expressing this unique mountainous terroir of rocks and limestone.
