Nemea in Transition

This year, I took the opportunity to visit the two most important Greek wine regions during the harvest; Nemea and Naoussa. In both regions it took place a little earlier (10 to 15 days) than it did last year, thus making this vintage one of the earliest harvested ever.

The situation in Nemea, the biggest appellation in the country with 2.500 ha under vine, was very challenging. There was much summer rain, particularly during August and September which caused extensive problems with downy mildew. This was more evident in the valley of Nemea, but could also be seen in the mountainous terroirs according to Yiannis Paraskevopoulos of Gaia Wines. Meticulous viticulture could have solved some problems, but this proved to be a tough call. Nikos Vlahos, producer and president of the Nemean Winemakers Association says “the growers who underestimated the challenge suffered losses, but in the end it was better than expected,” whereas Yiannis Tselepos from Dryopi Estate was not discouraged by downy mildew saying: “professional vinegrowers could have avoided it; for us in Koutsi subregion this is a very good harvest with excellent quality grapes.”