HATZIEMMANOUIL WINERY KOS

GREECE

By Sophia Tsoulfa

• The Hatziemmanouil winery is a small privately owned business on the beautiful Aegean island of Kos, Greece.

• Due to its geographical location, the island is blessed with a Mediterranean climate of mild winters and hot dry summers. This of course makes it a fantastic summer tourist destination and furthermore, the ideal location for growing grapes and wine production.

• The Hatziemmanouil estate is the second largest wine producer on the Island but is considered to be the best in both quality and taste.

• The current winery is set in an area of 60 acres of high quality fertile land.

• The Hatziemmanouil name first became associated with wine in 1929 when the family started cultivating the land and producing wine.• At first, only a small quantity was produced due to the limited resources

available at that time. Traditional methods were very slow and time consuming.

• But over the years that followed, the family was able to perfect their craft and slowly expand the business.

• In 2004, the Hatziemmanouil winery relocated to its new premises in Asfendiou, Kos. This much larger estate enabled the company to broaden and expand its wine production and the addition of new equipment and technology bought the family business into the 21st century.

Today the company employs 6 full time workers from January through to September.

The wine making process usually begins at the end of January. Even though the grape vines are bare, there is still much work to be done cutting and preparing them for the spring. The land must be cleared of leaves and other debris and special medicine needs to be applied to the soil to encourage and maintain healthy growth.

• In early spring, buds start to appear on the vines, grapes start developing, and the workload intensifies.

• Daily checks are necessary to help eliminate disease and unwanted pests including birds and bees.

• Quality control tests are also carried out to determine the taste of the developing grapes.

• By the month of September the grapes have fully matured and are ready to harvest.

• It’s hard manual labor, so all the family needs to help. • Once gathered, the grapes are separated from

remaining stalks and passed through a pressing machine.

• Many checks are performed and when the wine is suitable it is pumped into large silver vats. It is kept at a temperature close to freezing to ferment for a minimum of 2 weeks.

• The next step is to let the wine mature or age in wooden barrels for between 1-2 years. The aging duration will depend on the type of grapes and variety of wine being produced. Temperature control is also vital at this important stage, so the barrels are kept in dark cellars to ensure both quality and taste.

• Hygiene is of prime importance in the factory and every available precaution is taken to ensure that the wine remains in a sterile and temperature controlled environment.

The winery has been fully certified and is in compliance with guidelines set by QCHECK to ensure its products reach the highest standard of

safety and hygiene.

• The last and final phase is the bottling and labelling process.

• Hatziemmanouil winery produces 6 different types of exceptional wine which cater for all tastes from sweet to dry. The collection includes 2 white varieties, 1 rose, 2 red and 1 dessert wine.

• In 2007, the company was awarded its first silver medal from the International Wine Competition of Thessaloniki.

• Its rich red Syrah variety was praised for its body and sweet spicy aroma.

• In 2009 it repeated this success.

• Last year, the company’s white wine was awarded a silver medal of excellence from the Lyon national competition in France.

• Hopefully this is just the beginning and many more awards will follow in the future for this small family owned winery.

I hope you enjoyed my presentation.Thank you