Winemaker profile: Kallie and Antonis Papantonis of Meden Agan

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Kallie and Antonis Papantonis

Greek wine,Kallie, Antonis, Meden Agan, Papantonis,Argos

Antonis and Kallie Papantonis

Nutshell...

Company Name:

Papantonis

Location:

Argos, Peloponessos

Winemaker:

Kallie Papantonis

Vineyardist

Antonis Papantonis

Product:

Meden Agan

Visiting wineries is good work. At it's best, there is good food (good cheese at least), good wine, good conversation and personalities and philosophies worth writing about. At its worst, there are memories of steel fermenters and little else. We felt we could have spent days with Kallie and Antonis. On the second of two visits, we spent the better part of an afternoon in a pleasant kitchen area within their winery, tasting wine (not necessarily theirs), eating simple, but tasty, food (we ordered out) and talking about a range of subjects, many of them beyond the purview of this project.

Memorable as it was, however, this visit had a component–music–that distinguishes it from any other visit I have made. I can only say that Meden Agan not only goes well with a variety of meats, cheeses and traditional Greek dishes, but is spectacular with both Paganini and Dean Martin. With such good taste in music, I'm not surprised their wine also shows such good taste.

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The brother and sister team of Kallie and Antonis Papantonis planted their first vines at Malendri, in the Nemea foothills in 1979. Their goal was to focus on the production of a single product, dubbed Meden Agan (ancient Greek for nothing in excess), a 100% Agiorgitiko varietal wine. The first bottling was in 1992. Aside from the wider philosophical implications of the name, Meden Agan is clearly intended not only to describe the wine itself, but may also be a mantra governing the evenhandedness employed in its production.

The Papantonis' both possess a combination of natural charm, humor and seriousness–all in high degree. Both spent their college years in the US–in the Midwest of all places–and are, in their own way, as unpretentiously cosmopolitan as Greek winemakers can be. The two can speak articulately on virtually any subject and conversations with them are invariably peppered with self-deprecating humor–until the subject turns to wine. With only one product and annual production of around 50,000 bottles, there is a lot at stake in each vintage. Their winemaking, therefore, receives the serious attention it requires.

The vineyards are Antonis' domain; Kallie is focused on the winery. In addition to normal winemaking concerns, Kallie has recently achieved ISO certification for their small, but well organized facility. The sterile environment of her winery is, thankfully, in stark contrast to the warmth displayed by their wine. In an area in which Agiorgitiko is subject to wide variations in style and quality based often, it seems, on presuppositions regarding ephemeral market trends, Meden Agan is true to a more timeless standard of winemaking. Part of this may be attributable to vineyard location and terroir. Their Malandreni vineyard, several miles away, is on limestone and at a moderate elevation (320 meters) that provides a strong foundation of ripe fruit that the Papantonis' employ wisely. Their barrels are turned over at a rate of 20% per year, a thoughtful formula that combines the restrained benefits of new oak with the neutral aging platform of old. In order to counter a certain slightness that is naturally characteristic of Agioritiko, the Papantonis' have begun increasing fermentation time to maximize the extraction of color and flavor from the must. As a result, their wine neither attacks the palate, nor suffers from lack of concentration, personality or good tannins. In light of their success in producing an essential Agiorgitiko, the fact that that the wine is produced outside of the Neméa zone, and therefore not entitled to use of the appellation, is a matter of no consequence.

The Papantonis', though still a one-product company, are outgrowing their winery in Argos. They are thinking about constructing a new facility closer to their vineyards. Even if they do, it will not be with aim of vastly increasing production. During our visit we found an employee meticulously hand-gluing custom labels on bottles. Obviously this is not an operation likely to prioritize quantity over quality any time soon.

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