The Philippi Valley & the Three-Generation Still

The story of Tsikrikonis Winery begins in the 1950s, in the village of Myrtofytos near Krinides, Kavala — a landscape of extraordinary historical resonance, where the ancient city of Philippi (a UNESCO World Heritage site) lies nearby, and where the foothills of Mount Symbolo meet the Thracian plain, creating a viticultural environment of mineral richness and maritime freshness. Theodoros and Chrysanthi Tsikrikonis were among the first in the area to plant vineyards, establishing 15 stremmas with indigenous varieties: Rozaki, Muscat, and Bogiamades — grapes that had been cultivated in the region for generations but had never been commercially bottled. Their work was subsistence agriculture with profound care: the grapes were harvested by hand, crushed in large wooden presses, and fermented in 500- and 1,000-litre oak barrels that the family preserved as heirlooms and that still occupy a place of honour in the modern cellar.

The second generation — Stathis Tsikrikonis, son of Theodoros and Chrysanthi — transformed the family's agricultural tradition into a commercial and cultural project. In the 1980s, Stathis carried out his first vinifications and added a new dimension to the family craft: distillation. He built a traditional copper still into a wood-fired oven and began producing tsipouro — the fiery grape spirit that is the traditional companion to Greek meze — becoming one of the first producers in Greece to bottle tsipouro under a family name. In 1990, he established Myrtofytos S.A., a modern distillery-winery that gave the family's wine and spirits their first commercial identity. The 1980s and 1990s also saw the planting of international varieties — Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc — and, significantly, one of the first Assyrtiko vineyards in the Kavala region, a forward-looking decision that demonstrated Stathis's conviction that the calcareous soils and maritime climate of Myrtofytos could support Greece's most prestigious white grape.

The third generation is led by Thodoris Tsikrikonis — son of Stathis, graduate in agronomy and oenology — who assumed responsibility for the cellar and vineyard with a scientific precision that complements the family's accumulated intuition. Under Thodoris's guidance, the estate adopted its current name, Tsikrikonis Winery, in 2006, and launched the GIONOS line — the first series of wines bottled under the family label. But Thodoris's most significant contributions have been in the realm of indigenous revival: in 2015, after years of effort by Stathis to preserve the old Rozaki vineyards, Thodoris vinified the variety experimentally and, for the first time globally, bottled and released it as a single-varietal wine — a landmark achievement that placed Tsikrikonis at the forefront of Greek viticultural archaeology. In 2016, single-vineyard Assyrtiko and Malagouzia followed, and in 2017, the family debuted Xinomavro — the noble red of Naoussa — in both rosé and red expressions, with the 784 bottles of rosé selling out immediately. This is not merely generational succession; it is a crescendo of curiosity, technical education, and deepening respect for the land.

The Tsikrikonis family is not only farmers and winemakers but artists and hosts. Eleni Tsikrikoni — Stathis's sister, Thodoris's aunt — is the family's painter, creating handcrafted, hand-painted collectible wine bottles that have become a signature of the estate's presentation, adorning the cellar and representing the winery in markets abroad. The estate's guesthouse, tasting room, and distillery are open to visitors, offering tours that weave through vineyards, the wood-fired still, and the modern cellar — an experience that has earned the winery a reputation for extraordinary hospitality. The philosophy that governs all of this is simple and profound: the production of high-quality terroir wines with absolute respect for the environment, guided by long-standing family tradition and modern scientific methods, with the ultimate goal of promoting indigenous grape varieties both in Greece and abroad.

The winemaking philosophy at Tsikrikonis is governed by a principle of balanced fusion — the marriage of modern scientific precision with the accumulated intuition of three generations, and the simultaneous cultivation of both indigenous Greek varieties and select international grapes. The estate's facility, established in 1990 and continuously renovated, is equipped with contemporary technology: temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, pneumatic presses, and a modern bottling line that ensures hygiene, precision, and consistency. But the equipment is always in service of the raw material — the estate-grown and carefully inspected grapes that Stathis and Thodoris select with uncompromising rigour. This is not winemaking as transformation but winemaking as revelation — the careful, respectful handling that allows the Myrtofytos terroir to express itself with clarity, freshness, and mineral precision.

The fermentation practices at Tsikrikonis reflect this dual commitment to precision and authenticity. Fermentation is conducted primarily in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks — a modern technique essential for preserving the primary aromatics of the white varieties (Assyrtiko, Malagouzia, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay) and the fresh fruit character of the rosés and lighter reds. For certain cuvées, indigenous yeasts are employed to add complexity and a sense of place — a choice that introduces controlled variability and vineyard-specific character into wines that might otherwise be too technically uniform. The whites receive short skin contact (6–12 hours) for aromatic extraction, building subtle texture and phenolic depth without compromising freshness. The reds undergo maceration of 10–20 days, with gentle extraction for fine tannins and deep colour — a restrained approach that prioritises elegance and balance over power and extraction.

The ageing programme at Tsikrikonis is deliberately calibrated to each wine's character and intended style. Whites are aged 4–6 months on fine lees in stainless steel or neutral oak, a practice that builds texture, body, and a subtle creamy richness while preserving the crisp acidity and mineral clarity that define the estate's style. Reds are aged 8–18 months in French oak barrels — mostly second and third use, which provide subtle spice, structure, and textural integration without the heavy vanilla and toast influence of new wood. The choice of French oak is deliberate: its finer grain and more subtle aromatic contribution complement the elegant, medium-bodied character of the estate's reds, allowing the fruit and the terroir to remain primary. For experimental cuvées, amphorae are used — neutral, breathable vessels that allow slow oxidation and the development of complex, earthy, textural qualities without the aromatic imprint of wood.

The finishing practices at Tsikrikonis reflect the estate's commitment to purity and transparency. Sulfur use is minimal; no chemical stabilisers or fining agents are employed. Gentle filtration is applied before bottling for most wines to maintain clarity and freshness, though some cuvées are bottled unfiltered to preserve their natural texture and complexity. All bottling is conducted on site, under inert gas protection, by gravity for natural stability — a final guarantee that the wine in the bottle matches the vision that guided its production from the Myrtofytos vineyard to the Krinides cellar. The result is a portfolio of wines that are clean, precise, and approachable, yet possessed of the depth, complexity, and terroir character that distinguish the best Macedonian producers — wines that remain true to their Greek roots while appealing to global palates.

To understand Tsikrikonis Winery, one must understand the concept of the Macedonian voice — a viticultural identity that is distinct from the volcanic wines of Santorini, distinct from the noble reds of Nemea, distinct from the gentle whites of Anchialos, and distinct even from the more established appellations of Naoussa or Drama. This is the voice of Kavala — the coastal gateway of eastern Macedonia, whose winemaking wealth derives from the convergence of mountain and sea, from the calcareous clay-limestone soils of the Symbolo foothills, and from the indigenous varieties that have been cultivated in the Philippi Valley for generations. It is the voice of Assyrtiko, transplanted from Santorini to the mainland and expressing a distinctive maritime minerality and crisp precision. It is the voice of Malagouzia, the rescued aromatic white, here revealing its floral and waxy character in the cool, mineral soils of Myrtofytos. It is the voice of Xinomavro, the noble red of Naoussa, finding a new expression in the sea-kissed foothills. And above all, it is the voice of Rozaki — the nearly extinct indigenous variety that the Tsikrikonis family has preserved, revived, and revealed to the world, producing the first global bottling and establishing a new chapter in Greek viticultural history.

The Rozaki guardian identity that Tsikrikonis has established is not merely a matter of commercial differentiation; it is a matter of cultural preservation, scientific achievement, and deeply rooted family faith. For decades, Stathis Tsikrikonis tended the old Rozaki vines, maintaining them against the pressures of modernisation, international varieties, and the economic logic that would have dictated their removal. He preserved them not because he knew they would become commercially successful but because he sensed their quality, their uniqueness, and their connection to the agricultural memory of his parents and grandparents. Thodoris's decision to vinify and bottle Rozaki in 2015 — the first time the variety had ever been bottled as a single-varietal wine anywhere in the world — was the culmination of this faith, and it transformed the estate from a competent regional producer into a viticultural pioneer. The Rozaki is not merely a wine; it is a statement of principle — a declaration that the future of Greek wine depends not only on the cultivation of famous varieties like Assyrtiko and Xinomavro but on the rescue and revelation of the obscure, the local, and the nearly lost.

The future of Tsikrikonis is tied to the deepening of Stathis and Thodoris's relationship with their Myrtofytos terroir — the continued cultivation of their 10 hectares of sustainably farmed vineyards, the refinement of their modern yet natural winemaking techniques, the development of new cuvées that explore the full range of what Assyrtiko, Malagouzia, Rozaki, Xinomavro, and their international varieties can achieve in the calcareous clay-limestone soils and maritime climate of the Philippi Valley, and the strengthening of their position in the Greek and international markets for authentic, terroir-driven, family-made wine. The estate will remain family-driven — Stathis and Thodoris continuing to work the vineyards, the cellar, and the tasting room with the same commitment to sustainability, low yields, and indigenous promotion that has defined the project since the 1950s, and the next generation growing up among the vines, the copper still, and the hand-painted bottles. The GIONOS line will continue to express the classic, balanced character of the estate's blends; the single-vineyard Assyrtiko and Malagouzia will continue to demonstrate the precision of plot-specific winemaking; the Rozaki will continue to carry the banner of indigenous revival; the Xinomavro will continue to challenge expectations about where Greece's great red grape can thrive; and the DERTI retsina will continue to rehabilitate an ancient style for modern palates.

In an age of industrial wine production, of chemical agriculture and marketing-driven branding, Tsikrikonis Winery stands as a compelling alternative — not because it rejects modernity but because it has embraced a different modernity, one that values three generations of family tradition over commercial standardisation, sustainable farming over chemical dependency, indigenous Macedonian varieties over global grape fashions, single-vineyard expression over blended anonymity, low yields over industrial volume, the rescue of Rozaki over the abandonment of local heritage, natural pine resin over chemical flavouring, hand-painted bottles over generic labels, and the specific voice of Myrtofytos over the standardised replication of a global style. Theodoros, Stathis, and Thodoris Tsikrikonis are not merely making wine; they are making a life — a life that bridges the 1950s and the 2020s, the wooden press and the pneumatic press, the wood-fired copper still and the temperature-controlled tank, the subsistence vineyard and the export market, the grandfather's Rozaki and the grandson's global debut. The 1950s founding, the 1990 distillery, the 2006 rebranding, the 2014 first vinification, the 2015 Rozaki landmark, the 2017 Xinomavro experiment, the sustainable viticulture, the hand-harvested grapes, the minimal sulfur, the Berliner Wein Trophy gold, and the name that has meant viticulture in Myrtofytos for three generations: all united in one bottle, one estate, one unanswerable argument for the possibility of authentic, place-specific, heritage-rooted, scientifically informed, creatively evolving artisan wine on the calcareous, sea-kissed, mountain-cooled, historically resonant foothills of Mount Symbolo, in the ancient and modern Philippi Valley.