Winter pruning

It is divided into shaping pruning and fruiting pruning.

With shaping pruning, we manage to give the stumps the shape that will give us quality viticultural products at the lowest possible cost. Its purpose is, during the first years of the vine’s life, to properly build its permanent parts (root, trunk, and arms) so that the vineyard is healthy and robust.

Fruiting pruning is applied every year, as long as the first 3–4 years of planting pass before the stump has taken its final shape. The purpose of fruiting pruning is to regulate the productive capacity that will lead to a high-quality harvest.

Summer pruning (sprouting, topping, and defoliation)

It takes place during the summer months and is the process of removing some of the new growth and leaves. It is particularly important work because it helps to achieve the balance between vegetation and production.

With summer pruning, we manage to create the ideal, as the case may be, climatic conditions in each vine: the ventilation and the lighting/shading ratio of the vegetation are regulated, and sunburn of the grapes is avoided.

The harvesting of the grapes as well as their sorting, which is done bunch by bunch, are carried out by the people who work on the estate using the manual method.

The harvest process begins at the end of August and ends in mid-October with the last vines, whose maturation requires more days than other types.

Harvest of white grapes

It is often said that “a white wine without aroma has nothing.” When we say aroma in this case, we mean mainly the aroma of the grapes and not the secondary aroma that develops during a healthy alcoholic fermentation. Secondary aroma alone is not enough for a quality white wine.

A necessary condition is, therefore, that the harvesting of the white grapes takes place at the right moment of maturity that coincides with the existence of a strong aroma. The right time is found before the grapes are fully ripe.

In addition to the aroma, the healthy state of the grape significantly affects the quality of the wine produced.

The white grapes must be harvested and transported to the winery carefully and without inconvenience, so that they remain intact. Harvesting in small boxes helps to avoid premature pressing and extraction of the components of the solid parts of the grape, which is undesirable in the production of quality white wines.

Afterwards, the bunch and the rack are separated so that the fermentation takes place for about 10–15 days while it is stored in special tanks.

For the locals, in Petrochori, the harvest is a kind of ritual, organizing many different events to celebrate the annual production of grapes at the end of September.

Initially, an extensive discussion was held at Thermo Town Hall with the Mayor, Spyros Konstandaras and the Deputy Mayor, Kostas Papathanasopoulos, on issues of Producer Groups, certification of agricultural products (POP, PGE and Mountain Areas), organization of beekeeping, and animal husbandry.

During the meeting, it was emphasized that the COVID-19 pandemic makes the importance of agricultural production, processing, trading, and consumption of food more relevant than ever. After all, the concern it caused is incorporated in the EU Green Deal and especially in the “Farm to Fork” strategy concerning agri-food, where together with the “Climate Agreement” and “Biodiversity” they constitute the main development strategies of the new KAP.

Thermo, a mountainous region of Aitoloakarnania, produces quality agricultural products and, at the same time, operates in an environment of high aesthetic value, as was evident from the subsequent visits to local businesses.

The Papathanasopoulos Winery and the wine “Petrino Chorio” were awarded the Silver Medal at the 24th International Wine Competition “Concours Mondial de Bruxelles,” the first to win a Winery of Aitoloakarnania in an International Wine Competition of recognized value.
“Petrino Chorio” was awarded among 9,080 different wines from 50 countries. The “Concours Mondial de Bruxelles” Competition completes 24 years of operation and is among the most rigorous and demanding Competitions worldwide.
Oenologists, sommeliers, tasters, wine critics, and industry researchers, guided by quality control tests and the evaluation of the best quality wines on an international scale, singled out the excellent quality wine of the Papathanasopoulos Winery, thus honoring the quality potential of the unique but almost forgotten Aitoloakarnanian vineyard.
The Chamber of Aitoloakarnania expresses its great satisfaction for this honorary distinction, which strengthens the image of the fine wines produced in the wineries of our prefecture and gives another reason to be proud of the quality of the land of Aitoloakarnania and its wine production.
The continuous successes and awards in the Agri-Food sector, the growing dynamics of their exports, and their great contribution to the development course of the entire prefecture, under today’s adverse conditions in every respect experienced by entrepreneurship in our country, confirm the correctness of our strategy of choosing to strengthen the extroversion of the Branded Standardized Product and fill us with strength to continue to strive towards the healthy development of the Local Economy.

Harvest of white grapes
The white grapes must be harvested and transported to the winery carefully and without inconvenience, so that they remain intact. Harvesting in small boxes helps to avoid premature pressing and extraction of the components of the solid parts of the grape, which is undesirable in the production of quality white wines.

Depression of the rails
The purpose of pressing the grapes is, as in red winemaking, to break the skin of the grapes and release the flesh and juice.
In white vinification, the pressing of the lees is not accompanied by the removal of the lees and is carried out as gently as possible, increasing the distance between the grooved cylinders of the press.

Separation (draining) of the must from the stems
The purpose of the draining or separation is to receive the must that has been released during the pressing of the rails.

Pressure of the pistons
The purpose of the pressure is to extract the remaining must from the grape mass, which has already been pressed and drained.
The pressure is carried out by the presses.

Alcoholic fermentation of the must
A key quality characteristic of white wines is their aroma. This is made up of the aroma of the raw material and the secondary aroma formed during alcoholic fermentation. It is therefore obvious that the production of good-quality wines requires the alcoholic fermentation to be carried out in such conditions as to ensure the greatest possible aroma.

Pressing the grapes
Crushing is the breaking of the skins, so the juice in the pulp cells of the flesh is released and comes into contact with the solid parts of the grape and with the spores of yeasts and bacteria that settle on the skin.

Transfer of the grape mass
After the grapes are pressed, the staphylomaza we get is transferred to the vinification tanks or the winemakers with or without the bostriches, depending on the method of pressing carried out.
The transfer is carried out with the help of a special pump that is actually called a vintage pump to distinguish it from the other pumps in the winery.

Alcoholic fermentation – extraction
During alcoholic fermentation, the sugars in the grape juice are degraded, forming ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of a large number of other substances called secondary products of alcoholic fermentation.
The second phenomenon of this stage, which is the extraction of the components of the solid parts of the grape, is affected by the conditions that prevail during its performance.

Separation of the must from the marc
Depending on the type of wine to be produced from a particular variety, the must is separated from the grapes and transferred to tanks, where alcoholic fermentation takes place at low temperatures.
The outflow wine produced from the fermentation of these musts is transferred to the tanks for the residence and processing of the wines.
The transport of both musts and wines is done by pipelines.

Removal of stem cells from tanks
The punches are emptied directly into the press if it is mobile or transferred to it by various means.

Pressure of the pistons
After the fermented must or wine has flowed off, the lees still hold a percentage that is picked up by gentle pressure.

In Europe, it is cultivated in the Bordeaux region in France, in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions in Italy, in Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Spain, etc.

The sauvignon blanc variety appeared after a natural crossing of the sauvignon and chenin blanc varieties. Mutations of sauvignon blanc are sauvignon gray (or sauvignon rosé), sauvignon noir, and sauvignon violet.

The Sauvignon Blanc varietals are cylindrical in shape, and the rails are very close together.

In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse Blanche.

Syrah is not to be confused with Petite Sirah, a cross between Syrah and Peloursin dating back to 1880.

The style and flavor profile of wines made from Syrah are influenced by the climate in which the grapes are grown.

In our vineyards, the charismatic Malagouzia, the white, local grape variety that comes from Aitoloakarnania and is characterized as the quintessence of the modern renaissance of Greek wines, grows ideally.

Each year from Malagouzia, exceptional wines are produced, characterized by rose and citrus aromas, rich mouthfeel, and a generous finish.

Merlot is a French grape variety used to produce red wines.

From this variety is produced the special red wine “Petrino Chorio,” with a deep purple color, aromas of vanilla and black fruits and a nutty taste.

In Greece, the Merlot variety is grown mainly in Halkidiki, Larissa, Attiki and Pella, but in Petrochori of the Municipality of Thermo in Etoloakarnania, it found the right place to grow its amazing elements.

In 2004, it occupied 105,000 hectares, and the variety expanded to 108,000 hectares internationally.

The variety has medium resistance to diseases such as downy mildew and vine ash rot. But the variety is sensitive to drought.