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Thanasis Parparousis
Dijon graduate Thanasis Parparousis opened his winery in 1973. It is on lush land in the coastal area of Rio, just before Patra. At the time Parparousis began this venture, there was barely a precedent in Greece for the small, artisanal production he envisioned. Knowing well the attributes of the Ahaïa region, he was confident in its potential to produce superior wines. But would there be a market for them? Consumers, at the time, were fully in the grip of a handfull of large companies competing to create brand loyalties based on criteria other than quality and, more discouragingly, competing against each other in price. Small-scale production was, at the time, limited to local and traditional products that may have been valued, but which were traditionally low-priced. On the one hand, this presented obstacles to the marketing of his products. On the other hand, it presented opportunities. The trick would be filling the quality void with affordable products. Parparousis wisely adopted the role of mover, not shaker, creating an initial foundation of quality and price that consumers undertood. Inching his products upward in quality and price as the market matured, he was in a central position when the trend in artisanal wine finally took hold in the eighties. In using this approach, he and a few others had performed a valuable service to many winemakers who were later able to jump on the bandwagon at ever softer points of entry. His property, which is practically on the water, features some rare, old Sideritis vines, the source for his Gifts of Dionysos, a seminal wine that pioneered the fine wine approach to indigenous cultivars that is the calling card of the Greek wine industry today. This wine is unique in its level of spice, elegant and restrained in aroma, not in the least delicate. It is one of Greece's most distinctive and differentiating white wines. During the 1990s, Parparousis planted Cabernet and the white Asyrtiko and Athiri. Both white varieties adapted nicely to the microclimate, creatuing a softer mouth-feel in his Athiri-Asyrtiko than in most Santoriniote versions. The decision to blend his estate-grown Cabernet with 20% Agiorgitiko from Neméa was inspired. This wine, Oenofilos,, a Greek meritage of sorts, is ample evidence of the Bordeaux-like qualities of Agiorgitiko. Parparousis, from the beginning, created relationships with local growers on hillsides above Patras where Roditis of singular quality is grown. These contracts give him access to the best fruit from one of Greece's most celebrated microregions. The pinkish Roditis grows best on the north-facing mountainsides of this part of the Peloponessos, where cool winds from mountains across the Gulf of Corinth bathe the vineyards, even during the height of summer. The best Roditis wines display a balance of herbs, nectar and minerals. Paraprousis' OPAP Roditis, Drosalis, is a restrained version. The tendency towards cold extraction of Roditis aromas, an approach that works well for other producers, is not in Parparousis' bag of tricks. As a result, his is more structured, a conservatively elegant wine that shows a maturity that perhaps owes its style more to the influence of Dijon than to the New World. Parparousis has long-standing relationships in Nemea that allow him to produce superior OPAP Nemea and Nemea Grand Reserve wines as a négociant. His restrained Oenari (OPAP) competes in quality with
White Muscat is traditional in the Patra area and qualifies for an OPE appellation, Muscat of Rio of Patra. Paraprousis' is generally regarded as the best of the genre, fortified and vinified from lightly sun-dried grapes. In an area largely dominated by Mavrodáfni, this muscat should not to be overlooked. The Parparousis family tradition continues with the involvement of a highly qualified and motivated second generation. Daughter Erifili has taken over vineyard management and is co-enologist. Daughter Dimitra has taken on marketing and administrative roles. The Parparousis tradition is in very able hands. . |
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Athiri-Asyrtiko
Oenari
