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Vassilis Kourtakis
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D. Kourtakis S.A. |
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US: Nestor Imports |
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| Anecodote: |
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The story of Vassislis Kourtakis,
current president and grandson of the company's founder, is (perhaps not coincidentally)
the stuff of 18th century British fiction. During the Cypriot troubles of the 1950s
Vassilis, a schoolboy, was caught demonstrating the British occupation of Cyprus
on an Athens tram owned by a British company. Expelled from his school (whose head
student turns out to have been current Prime Minister Kostas Simitis), he was sent
by his father to boarding school in England. Kourtakis, it is said, could not have
been less pleased. By the time he graduated from Wadham College at Oxford, apparently,
his mood had improved considerably. Any discomfort he may have suffered is likely
forgotten, especially if the health of the company's British exports are any indication. |
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Kourtakis vineyards
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Kourtakis is one
of several large Greek wine concerns with roots in the nineteenth century. The founder,
Vassilis Kourtakis (1865-1946), had the distinction of being the first Greek to earn
a degree in Oenology. Returning to Greece, he focused his efforts on a then modernized
approach to Mesogeian retsina production, improving vineyard management and oenological
methods to create a wine that eventually made the Kourtakis name synonomous with
the genre. During its first half-century Kourtakis' retsina was produced in bulk
and distributed throughout Central Greece and nearby islands in casks.
Vassilis' son, Dimitris, himself a graduate of Dijon, inherited the family business.
Under his leadership the firm began bottling the wine and extended its distribution
to every corner of Greece. By the nineteen-sixties the Kourtakis brand, with its
familiar logo, yellow label and half-litre bottle, was ubquitous in Greece, the market
leader. In the nineteen-seventies, at the height of its popularity, the company produced
sixty million bottles of retsina annually.
By the early nineteen-seveties, however, with appellation laws under implementation
and EU membership imminent, the internationalization of Greece's wine industry was
a foregone conclusion. The need to adapt was becoming increasingly apparent. Enter
Vassilis Kourtakis, the grandson of the founder. Vassilis—like his father before
him—had gone to Dijon to pursue studies in oenology. After eight years spent working
in Burgundy, he returned to Greece in the late nineteen-sixties with a vision for
Greek wine—and Kourtakis—that looked far beyond retsina. Despite entreaties
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The "Steel Cathedral"
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to his father, his
ideas, at first, met with stiff resistance. The son, eager to pursue his vision,
went to work for one of Greece's first estate producers in northern Greece. Soon,
the elder Kourtakis saw the light, bringing Vassilis back into the fold with a mandate
to supervise capital investments aimed at modernizing production and expanding the
company's product line. Ultimately the pair formed an indefagitable team: before
his passing a few years ago, Dimitris, known affectionately as "Mr. Mimis,"
was famous for his religious daily attendance at the company's offices, even into
his nineties.
The roughly fifteen years following Vassilis' arrival on the scene was characterized
by the construction of new wineries, most notably the Ritsona facility, dubbed the
"Steel Cathedral" for its ordered configuration of huge steel fermentation
tanks. The winery was the first in Greece to utilize Laval's "crystal flow"
clarification process and boasted the third largest pressing capability in Europe.
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Controlled production
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The company's portfolio
expanded with the introduction of the very successful Apelia line. These fruit driven
wines brought character to consumers at painless prices and still remain among the
best values in the domestic Greek market. A consulting relationship with Calliga
wines culminated in the absorption of the brand in the early nineties. Investment
in other regions, such as Crete and the Peloponessos, increased exposure in important
appellation areas and further diversify an increasing portfolio of products.
Kourtakis, still under Vassilis' direction, is now Greece's largest wine producer,
selling over thirty million bottles annually of which fifteen million are exported
around the world. Its retsina still plays an important role, but its other wines
are firmly established both in Greece and abroad. Perhaps reflecting the fact that
the apple never falls far from the tree, Kourtakis has not changed its product line
as rapidly as some other large Greek companies. A more likely explanation, however,
for the non-internationalization of its portfolio may be apparent in its bottom line:
financially, the company remains stronger than some who diversified too early or
too brashly. By appealing to a core customer who appreciates the essential Greekness
of its wines, brand loyalty, the mainstay of the company since its inception, continues
to serve Kourtakis well.
2002 Update
I spent a day this June with Graham Blake, Kourtaki's head of marketing. We travelled
to the company's famous Ritsona winery, had lunch along the (still) charming quay
at Halkida then finished off the day with a tasting then a meeting with Mr. Kourtakis
at the company's headquarters in Markopoulo. We spent much of the time talking about
the difficulty Greek wines face in export markets. Graham and Mr. Kourtakis are of
one mind. Eventually, Kourtakis must enter the mainstream. Although it has yet to
be determined how that will happen it will clearly not happen by making decisions
that risk the disenfranchisement of a large and loyal consumer base. A line of new
varietal wines [see product list] illustrates the point. Proven indigenous varieties
from proven regions such as Crete, Santorini, Achaia and Nemea have received the
green light. These new products are designed to capitalize on the quality of their
constituent grapes and origins at prices to which the company's loyal followers are
well accustomed. In avoiding the temptation to vinify western varieties, the company
has accomplished two important goals: First, it has avoided risky investments in
products that would face difficult--if not insurmountable--competition in foreign
markets. Secondly, if and when Greece's indigenous varieties achieve commercial acceptance
outside the country, there will be no need to backtrack. More importantly, of all
the large Greek producers, only Kourtaki can claim 100% Greek portfolio. And Greek
wine is what the company is all about. |