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Thrasivoulos Vasdavanos
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Giorgios
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The Vasdavanos winery began in 1958
as one of the few independent producers of wine from Thessalia's Tyrnavos subregion.
Tyrnavos, located at the northern edge of Thessalia's renowned plain, has the greatest
concentration of vineyards in the region. From the beginning, the company has been
family run. The founders, brothers Ioannis, Thrasivoulos and Apostolos, started,
according to Thrasivoulos' son, Giorgios "with nothing." Today annual production
is close to 150,000 tonnes.
The winery itself is located in Giannouli, just on the outskirts of Larissa. According
to Giorgios, who now heads day to day operations, grapes are sourced exclusively
from growers in the greater Tyrnavos area, especially from the village of Damassi.
"Maintaining quality", he says, "is not a problem-our list of growers
even includes relatives."
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Vivi
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Tyrnavos is not at the top of most
people's lists of up and coming Greek wine regions. Due to a difficult recovery from
the Phyloxera outbreak between the World Wars, the varietal makeup of the area's
vineyards adheres neither to longstanding tradition nor to modern Greek notions of
fine wine production. According to Miles Lambert-Gocs, the area, during Ottoman times,
had evolved into a center for table grape production. When the vineyards were replanted
after Phyloxera, the white wine grape Savatiano was planted, but red wine production
was dominated by the seemingly unpromising Moscato Amvourgou (Muscat of Hamburg).
As a result, the region is not entitled to an appellation of origin of superior quality.
Yet it is precisely the Moscato Amvourgou that distinguishes the area's wines and
makes the efforts of the Vasdavanos family to pin down the variety's best features
all the more interesting.
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Winery
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Use of the Moscato Amvourgou guarantees
a distinctly ethnic flavor to the wines, no matter how low the yields, or how diligent
the winemaking. Although the family could be said to have one foot firmly in the
high volume category, a serious effort is underway to carve a niche for more serious
products, both red and white. So while the company's inexpensive 5 liter bottles
can be spied in a surprisingly large number of locations around Greece--testament
to their value for money and a disciplined approach to sales--and fully 20% of their
production never makes it to bottle at all, the same serious discussions one has
with Greece's better known producers can be had with Vivi (Paraskevi) Vasdavanou,
the family oenologist and the woman on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of
producing limited production wines that will be taken seriously in the market.
Vivi does not expect miracles from the region's controversial red variety. She does,
however, see qualities in the grape that justify a serious effort. Amelioration,
not surprisingly, has become the operative method of creating sophistication while
preserving the best of Moscato's powerful flavors and aromas. Cabernet and Agiorgitiko
have proven to be promising partners and the family has begun an experimantal plot
in which Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah and other cultivars are under close observation.
With an effective core business based on solid volume, the family can well afford
to venture into more serious winemaking.
Our descriptions of the Vasdavos
wines will appear soon. |
Amplelokipos White