Feature Wine Story

Road to Oenorama
Starting on Friday, March 28th, thousands of ‘enophiles’ and “eno-enthusiasts” will be heading to one of the largest wine exhibitions in Europe, OENORAMA. Organized and founded by Vinetum, Oenorama has become the premier event to showcase Greece’s finest wines sine 1994. The interest and momentum has increased significantly with over 15,000 visitors attending this year from all over the world anticipating to see Greece’s latest productions.

In the last ten years Greece has made major improvements and accomplishments in their wine production and their integrity to compete with international selections. The investment and efforts to make these changes are becoming more present year after year. One of the biggest opportunities that winemakers from Greece have is to showcase their latest productions at Oenorama. This is one of the few opportunities where the most respected authorities of the wine media, wine professional, and importers can see Greece’s best in one forum. Winemaker’s such as George Palivos of Palivou Vineyards embraces Oenorama as the championship event of the wine world.

Oenorama was first held at the Sports Hall of the Olympic Stadium in 1994 with less than half of the wine exhibitors that it has today. Its instant success required the show to be moved to a larger location that could accommodate the amount of visitors. It was then later moved to the gigantic facilities of EKEP in Metamorphisis. EKEP did great justice for Oenorama with its enormous space and modern design. The facilities at EKEP allowed winemakers and produces to construct some of the most fascinating pavilions to display their products with amazing lighting and design set up. At Oenorama you are not just visiting booths but rather interactive virtual pavilions that captures the essence of the wines. Throughout the years, the only challenge with Oenorama was its location. Since Oenorama is a three-day event, traveling back and forth throughout that weekend from Athens made it a little difficult with a 40-minute drive. After years of feedback and recommendations, Oenorama this year has been moved to The MEC Exhibition Center in Paeania. MEC’s location is conveniently located near the airport and the Attiki Odos Highway, which give access to visitors by car, bus, and subway. This advantage will give the 15,000 expected visitors different options of transportation.

Oenorama will be featuring over 150 wineries ranging from some of the biggest wineries such as Achaia Clauss and Boutari to the most prestigious boutique wineries such as Avanti Estates from Boetia and Sigalas from Santorini. There will also be pavilions featuring some of Greece’s finest distilleries that produce some of the best ouzos, tsipouros, and tsikoudias. Importers and agents from around the world will be present tasting and sampling the different selections to see what new products they can bring to their respected global markets. It is evident and clear throughout world wide media sources that wines from Greece have created a tremendous impact and interest in the wine industry. Sam Katechis, founder of Stellar Imports, religiously visits every Oenorama exhibiton to provide him with the knowledge and awareness of new wines and producers to enhance his portfolio for his U.S. markets. “Some of my best producers in my portfolio are a result of visiting Oenorama. Nasiakos Vineyards and Papagiannakos Winery are two of my best white wine producers that I found at the exhibit.” Says Sam Katechis.All of his producers in his portfolio are represented at every Oenorama exhibit and will be this year as well.

Recently, in the last exhibit, there has been an additional section added to Oenorama that features wines from a specific region of Greece. Visitors found this section to be of great interest and to be able to sample wines from the different regions to understand their productions from a different prospective. In this section you will find wines from the regions of Nemea, Naoussa, Santorini, and a handful of others. Education is essential at such an exhibition so that the visitors capture the true essence of wine production from the winemakers and the industry itself. Every winemaker brings his or her signature in winemaking, but nothing compares to understanding Greek winemaking through its varietals, regions, and terroir.

The exhibition will also feature a special guest, Chef Dominque Perrot that will be preparing exquisite dishes throughout that weekend. In order to experience Chef Perrot’s masterpieces you will have to make reservations in advance. Oenorama brings an abundance of excitement and buzz that makes it a memorable experience for both the visitors and exhibitors. It is well worth to visit Greece for just experiencing Oenorama that week. If you do plan on visiting the exhibition, come with a open mind and be prepared for one of the most fascinating wine shows in Europe.

Oenorama will be held March, 28th, 29th, and 30th  from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm at The MEC Exhibit Center in Paeania. For tickets and reservations, visit www.oenorama.com.

Winemaker Profile

 

Oenologist/winemaker: Sofoklis Petropoulos
Winery: Palivou Vineyards (2005- present)
Age: 31 y.o.
Education: B.S. in Oenology (TEI) Technological Educational Institution, Athens, Masters in Oenology, University of Adelaide, South Australia
Production: Estate production of Terra Leone Vineyards that includes the award winning "Ammos".
Red: Agiorgitiko, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon.
White: Roditis, Malagousia

Sofoklis Peterpoulos, Greece's youngest winemaker that is producing the country's best wines made from the varietal Agiorgitiko. On his first trip to Boston, Sofoklis enlightens visitors to the Boston Wine Expo on February 9th and 10th. Over 8,000 visitors stopped by Sofokli's booth to discover today's wines from Palivou Vineyards.

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