Wine delights heart …. our forefathers were saying. Crete is the ideal place to do it. The Cretan land is gifted with the gift of precious goods that delight the heart, the body and the soul of man.
Crete has a winery tradition of 4,000 years. Findings from the ancient vines are located in Archanes, Heraklion. There you will find the oldest wine press.
Thanks to the favorable climatic conditions of the Cretan land, the varieties of wines are excellent. Some of the most popular varieties are Vilana, Vidianos, Dafni, Thrapsathiri, Malvasia di Candia, Moschato Spina, Plito, for the white Wine category. For the category of Red wines, you should not miss tasting Kotsifali, Mandalari, Liatiko, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and the historic Romaiiko.
The wine grape was intensively cultivated for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean coasts and mainly in Greece. Wild grapes have been found in caves where they were inhabited by nomadic prehistoric tribes. Findings in amphoras found in Gortynia prove the existence of Cretan Wines as well as the 4th century AD.
After the end of the ancient period, wine production declines. Crete was a crossroads of infinite raids and invasions, which contributed negatively to wine production.
During the Venetian domination, the sweet Wine, the Malvasia of the Franks, comes to light. During the Ottoman domination, production takes place exclusively at home.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, things in wine production have changed dramatically. Many wine producers return to traditional production. The art and the taste of the wine-making are bequeathed from generation to generation. They open the streets of Greek wine in foreign countries with great achievements and strong distinctions.
