In Greece, the cultivation of the vine has its roots in the ancient times. Our ancestors have cultivated the vine with loyalty to tradition and produced wine they savoured in moderation, thus worshipping God Dionysus for having offered them this sacred gift. During their feasts, they would always dilute wine with water and this is where the Greek word for wine, "krasi", derives from: a mixture of water and wine. The plant is perennial with annual vegetative cycle.
The varieties used in viticulture are Vitis Vinifera and ever since phylloxera ravaged Greece, they are grafted on rootstocks that can resist this kind of insect.
In winemaking, the quality of the raw material -the grape- determines that of the finished product. Factors that determine the quality of the grape are the location of the vineyards, the type of soil, the variety and its adaptability, the root-stock, the climate and microclimate conditions as well as the human factor: the wine-grower and the vinification tecniques he applies, definitely affect the quality of the grape.
