Where tradition meets the passion when...
Back in the 1940s, Petros Leftsis, from Griva, had a great passion for his small vineyard. He would wake up very early in the morning to go and see it. To smell his grapes. Small and slim but flexible his only concern was to tend to his land. In 1942 his crop went very well. He had made cauldrons out of tree trunks with his own two hands. Unfortunately, one night Germans invaded his home and took everything. His wine and tsipouro. He nearly died of misery. He would say, 'I wish I had been killed rather than experience this disaster.'
As years went by he started taking his son Christos with him to the vineyard so he could teach him to love the land as well. He even bought surrounding vineyards in order to expand his land and increase his produce. Every October he would invite his neighbours to taste the wine he produced. They would have feasts filled with laughter and joy with the wine luring and intoxicating the guests with its distinctive aroma.
Christos, his son, had great plans for this small vineyard. He decided to replace all the old cauldrons with more sophisticated, new, oak ones. The vineyard loyal to tradition eventually produced more and more. He wanted to fill the surrounding area with the aroma of his produce and he managed to do it.
Petros, Christos's son, continued this third generation tradition with passion and love. The mixed ingredients were preserved in wooden barrels which helped so that the fermentation could produce an incredible aroma. With this aroma of the good old wine, he raised his family in Griva and inoculated the history of wine production into the slopes of Mt. Paiko. There where his grandfather once cultivated his own vineyard and the whole area was filled with the smell of must, love and care.
In 2021, Ioannis Leftsis with his wife Dimitra Traianou, decided to make his great grandfather's dream come true and transfigure their love into a winery that would have the essence of this long lasting tradition. Loyal to the history of the area and its vineyards, Ioannis and Dimitra are opening the doors of their winery to the public where tradition meets up with passion.