Concept created by Bonello Athens
Three, young, pioneering Greek women winemakers from the Peloponnese region, Sosanna Katsikosta/Acheon Winery, Katerina Bosinakis/ Bosinakis Winery and Theodora Rouvalis/ Rouvalis Winery - have joined forces and are promoting their region and wines in selected countries around the world, based on the marketing and promotion concept with the title "Greek Women Winemakers -The Power of She" created by Bonello Athens.
The three winemakers are currently present in USA and Canada where they are hosting a series of free to the public events for wine lovers, and private events for trade and media professionals.
Wine lovers have the opportunity to meet Sosanna, Katerina and Theodora and enjoy a few PDO Mantinia, PDO Patras, PGI Slopes of Aigialeia, PGI Achaia, PGI Arcadia and PGI Peloponnese wines created by indigenous Greek and international varieties bearing the distinct, expressive touch of their female winemakers.
The "Greek Women Winemakers -The Power of She" concept, is a breakthrough marketing concept, designed and implemented by Bonello Athens. The initiative, provides to the participants female winemakers, the unique opportunity to fully exploit the European subsidiary programs for wine marketing and promotion around the world by specifically aiming big international markets like USA, Canada, Japan, China etc.
A few words about the Greek Women Winemakers and their Wineries
Sosanna Katsikosta - Acheon Winery
Acheon Winery focuses on the vinification of indigenous grape varieties cultivated in the mountainous region of Aigialeia and the production of high-quality wines which express their unique terroir and will contribute to the growth and fame of the region all over the world.
Founded in 1946 in Aigio, Achaia, the company with the long family tradition in wine, was undertaken by the third generation of winemakers, Sosanna and her brother Luke, at the turn of the millennium, in 2004.
Sosanna Katsikosta is the Head Winemaker of Acheon Winery. Her dream has always been the creation of fine wines which express the indigenous varieties of her homeland. Born and raised in Aigio, before starting as the winemaker at Acheon Winery, Sosanna worked at Chateau Margaux, Margaux and Chateau Latour Martillac at Pessac-Leognan in France. Her dream had already led her to study viticulture in Nemea and then to fol- low further studies in Bordeaux and Toulouse, France, where she received her diploma of oenology, and to the University of Reins for her Master’s degree in Wine Marketing.
Today, she is meticulously working on the varieties of Roditis Fox, Sideritis and Mav- rodaphne cultivated in the regions of PGI Achaia and PDO Patras creating wines of a unique identity.
Katerina Bosinakis - Bosinakis Winery
Bosinakis winery, has a strong family tradition in winemaking and a strong passion for quality wine. The family got involved in the wine industry forty years ago, when Fotis Bosinakis and his wife Christina, took over the wine distribution network from their parents after falling in love with the world of wines. In 1992 the couple built their own winery at Steno, a small village in the heart of Mantinia, home of the Moschofilero grape.
Years of first-hand knowledge about how to handle this grape has been invaluable to the children of the family, Sotiris, Katerina and Konstantinos Bosinakis, who they actively participated in the company from the very start. Armed with decades of knowledge and Moschofilero’s great potential, the three siblings bottled for the very first time their PDO Bosinakis Mantinia in 2009.
Bosinakis siblings, focus and concentrate on their knowledge of the grape of Mo- schofilero cultivating small lots of single vineyard wines, with low yield per acre, along with trusted growers and produce only two labels of it. In 2015 they launched their first extended maceration Moschofilero, a Provence-style rosé! The grapes for ‘Ieria’ were in contact with the skins and seeds for 24 hours vs 8-12 hours for the Mantinia.
Specializing in small lots of single vineyard wines, they’ve quietly earned a reputation for quality, passion in winemaking, and an easy-going approach.
The unique microclimate of Mantinia and over 30 years of experience has led the family to create products that contribute to the PDO zone of Mantinia. They are also among the first to experiment with the aging potential of Moschofilero. Complexity, without sacrificing elegance, is what they are striving for!
Theodora Rouvalis - Rouvalis Winery
The pioneering gravity-flow Rouvalis winery in the heart of Aigialeia has been making wine since 1990. Altitude, rocky outcrops, small carefully selected parcels of land, and terraced vineyards looking out over the Corinthian Gulf form an ideal location for “heroic viticulture”. As Angelos Rouvalis’ successors, Theodora Rouvalis and Antonio Ruiz Pañego have brought their dedication, skill and wide-ranging knowledge to the winery and create wines with personality that express the distinctive and unique terroir of Aigialeia, one of the world’s most interesting viticultural zones.
Theodora Rouvalis a resourceful winemaker and viticulturist, with international experience, a profound love and knowledge of wine, and dynamic enthusiasm, has taken over the running of the winery in 2017 bringing a new air to it. Theodora studied Enology at TEI Athens and Valencia Polytechnic University in Spain. After that, she attended a post-graduate programme ‘Viticulture and Terroir’ at the University of Burgundy in France. She worked with many people renowned in the winemaking business in celebrated wineries: Clos de Tart (Grand Cru Monopole) in Burgundy, Château Margaux (1er Grand Cru Classé) in Bordeaux, Domaine Muré – Clos Saint Landelin (Grand Cru Vorbourg) in Alsace, Villa Maria (Auckland) in New Zealand, Gandolini (Maipo Valley) and Ventolera (Leyda Valley) in Chile and Domaine Mercouri in Greece.
A few words about the PDO and PGI zones
Peloponnese peninsula, located in the southmost section of continental Greece, is one of the most well-known areas of vineyard cultivation in the country since antiquity. References of wine production may be found in signs of the 2nd millennium BC with special notes on Dionysus, ancient Greek god of wine. Peloponnese features the most vineyards, the most wineries and produces the greatest number of registered types of wines than any other wine producing area of Greece.
Some of the most important wine regions in the area are PGI Arkadia in the central part of the peninsula, PGI Slopes of Aigialeia with some of the most beautiful mountainous vineyards facing the Corinthian Gulf, PGI Achaia close to Patras as well as regions under PGI Peloponnese denomination offering many different styles of wines produced by indigenous Greek and international varieties like Roditis Fox, Sideritis, Malagousia, Assyrtiko, Mavrodaphne, Viognier, Chardonnay, Merlot, Syrah etc.
PDO Mantinia
Mantinia is a Protected Designation of Origin appellation, located in the central Peloponnese in a plateau at about 700 masl covering an area of about 1500 hectares. The cool climate that comes with the high altitude surrounding the city of Tripoli is planted extensively with the Moschofilero grape variety, which produces white and rose wines, still or sparkling with typical aromas of rose petals, lemon blossom, citrus fruit, and some spice, and with very good acidity.
The ancient city of Mantinia has given the appellation its name, while there is evidence of winemaking in the area since antiquity including references by Homer and Pafsanias. Although winemaking there dates back thousands of years, the appellation was established in 1971. Being one of the coldest wine growing regions in Greece it is characterized by high diurnal variation which helps maintain acidity and aromas.
PDO Patras
The PDO Patras zone, situated in the northeastern and central part of the Peloponnese, in Achaia, was established in 1972. Being by far the largest PDO zone in Greece it extends between semi-mountainous and mountainous terrains on the slopes of Aigialeia and is cultivated with the Roditis Fox grape variety. This Greek reddish grape variety on the mountain slopes offers high quality fresh and aged wines, still or sparkling. Deeply rooted in time, the name Roditis was chronicled by Pliny (1st century ACE) while it appears to have gained quite a reputation during the Venetian period. It is an emblematic variety of Aigialeia with international recognition offering white or orange wines from its reddish skin.
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