Kormilitsa Gold: The Jewel of Mount Athos and Tsantali

I first visited Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), the peninsula in Northeastern Greece - an autonomous part of Greece since 1926 and one of the most important centers of Eastern Orthodox Monasticism - when I was about ten years old. I revisited this unique place after two years and covered about ten to twelve monasteries out of the twenty existing. I still remember everything, the memories are so lively like it was yesterday. The energy of the place is so powerful and solid that it leaves you with no other choice. There is silence and power, a rare combination...

The roots of vine growing and winemaking in Mt Athos date back to ancient times as various texts describe. Each monastery used to have its own winery with the production of each one estimated between 8-10 tonnes annually. It was here that in 1969 Evangelos Tsantalis, seeked refuge during a storm and discovered a whole new wine-world and a magnificent terroir.