At 7.2 million euros, amount of money left to his fans of wine of the wineries that can be visited following the Wine Route of Northern Greece, with the director of the “Winemakers of North Greece” Association, Alexandra Anthidou noting of APE-MPE that last year their number reached over 120,000 and this year , all showed that the messages were “highly encouraging”.
“If we say that everyone buys six bottles, that’s a box, which I consider the least, because I know that some literally fill the trunks of their cars, and on an average with a price of 10 euros / bottle, we immediately reached 7, 2 million euros left by those who visited the wineries of Northern Greece”, emphasized Mrs. Anthidou on the sidelines of yesterday’s event – where he presented a related work – organized on the occasion of the visit of members of the International Urban Vineyards Association Network (UVA) and particular representatives of urban and peri-urban vineyards from in Catania, Barcelona, Paris, Venice and Palermo, on the occasion of the annual meeting organized every year in one of its member cities.
It is recalled that they were welcomed, as well as the organization of today’s event, by the officials of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and the Departments of Green and Environment Management and Culture and Tourism, in the context of the European funded project Food Trail Horizon 2020 which implemented by the independent department of business planning and development programs, to support countries in urban agriculture and cultural areas.
Asked about the messages received this year about visiting wineries located on the Wine Routes of N. Greece, Mrs. Anthidou that although it is still early days “we will definitely surpass the number of visitors of last year, with signs that are particularly useful”. He added that for the millions of visitors who arrive in Greece by road, “it is enough for some of them to stop at the wineries they visit and immediately the traffic increases and a new cycle opens for of winemakers”.
Arguing the positive estimates he made for this year’s movement of wineries to visit in Northern Greece, he pointed out that two weeks ago the festive spring event of wineries, which began in the region in 2005, took place and the numbers showed that the visitors exceeded 20,000 , which, as he explained, “is very good and good for the facts of Greece, which is still a young country of wine and no culture”.
In Greece, “we may be behind when it comes to wine, but we are making leaps and bounds”, he emphasized and added that Greek wines are getting a much higher added value. “We introduced the world to Greek wine and in the coming years we will see our efforts rewarded in different ways and on many levels”, he estimated.
Highlighting the dynamics of wine tourism around the world and saying that hundreds of wine lovers travel from continent to continent to visit five to ten wineries, Ms. in a unique and magical taste … journey, through a sip that can lift all their senses or … not. “Each sip of a new variety is also an unprecedented journey and let there be many before”, he points out characteristically and emphasizes that the vine is a special plant with beauty, magic , power to unite and … brings good. of people. After all, as he noted, “around a table, drinking glasses of wine, the most impossible dreams are expressed, ambitious plans are made and disagreements are settled”.
The wine roads are a network of visited wineries that take care of their operation to safely welcome people, with guided tours and with tastings. “There is a very well-guarded environment, so that the visitor feels comfortable and feels and finally remembers the strong and clear experience of wine tourism and this is the essence”, said Ms. Anthidou and reminds that the network includes 35 wineries from which 28 are more actively involved in wine tourism. It is highlighted that the wineries to visit in Northern Greece start from Zitsa in Epirus and reach as far as Adriani in Drama and south to Krania Olympos.
He also noted that the period of 10 years in the 90’s definitely passed when most people thought that wineries were smelly, sunless, dark and moldy basements and from there somehow the wine came out . “The wineries are so clean and well-kept they look like operating rooms,” he clarified.
Talking about the ecosystem, the vineyard, he mentioned that the journey of a wine starts there. “A person can make the best wine in the world if they also have the same vineyard, while from a mediocre vineyard you can get a mediocre wine without a doubt”, he emphasized and added that ” of course we saw and tasted from a great vineyard. what is the result of a mediocre wine.”
The vineyard environment, in itself, has a unique and special beauty and in it one can notice the changes between the seasons. “If it wasn’t around the vineyard in Spring, now the bunches of children come out and we see the flowering, the scenery changes in the winter, but the scenery is always beautiful and … alive”, he pointed out and stated. his belief that in the end people love wine tourism because it involves them in an evolution that does not stop, like life itself”.
Asked how he envisions the wine industry in our country ten years from now, he unequivocally says that “what we have today will remain fundamental and more will be done against the bad hui of the Greeks with a tendency to kick the bucket of collected milk”.
He expressed his certainty that many better wineries will be created, but on the condition, as he emphasized, that “the state will finally start giving permission for new plantings, which it will not do, even more than the fact that people want the vines and demand the product”. Among other things, he emphasized the need for a better and more enhanced promotion of Greek wines, for the development of the wine culture in our country and for the suppression of the underground economy of the industry which unfortunately. ..prosperous, he says characteristically. .