Winemaking

Vinification, or winemaking, is the process of producing wine through fruit selection, fermentation, and bottling - a practice with millennia of history.

Achaia Clauss

Natural drying process for muscat grapes.

Red wine post fermentation pressing.

The harvest begins in early August with the earliest-ripening white grape varieties. Depending on the variety, different winemaking methods are used, with common elements including destemming, gentle pressing in pneumatic cooled presses, and strict pre-fermentation clarification. Fermentations are conducted at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks, preserving the desired organoleptic characteristics of each variety.

For sweet wines, different winemaking approaches are followed depending on the type of sweet wine we aim to produce and its aging potential.

Antonopoulos Vineyards

Reception and sorting of grapes during the harvest season.

Pre-fermentation cold extraction inside pneumatic press.

The harvest takes place early in the morning, and the grapes are transported in refrigerated trucks to the winery. The goal is to highlight all the characteristics of the raw material at the moment the harvest is decided. Each vintage is approached with a different winemaking strategy. There are different wine styles and winemaking approaches, always aiming to capture the essence of each vintage in the bottle.

Cold pre-fermentation macerations, strict removal of solids, and fully controlled fermentations are some of the techniques used for the majority of the wines. Aging in oak, with or without lees, also depends on the vintage and the style of wine we aim to create, striving to capture as faithfully as possible the unique characteristics of each vineyard plot and each distinctive vintage in the respective wines.

Castro Clauss

Harvest starts early morning hours in order to achieve the optimum temprature for the grapes.

Each grape cluster is handpicked and de-stemmed by our Team.

The entire harvest and winemaking process is carried out without the use of electricity. This requires very careful handling to protect the raw material and achieve the desired winemaking results. Harvesting takes place during the night, destemming is done by hand, and fermentation is carried out in small vertical wooden fermenters. Additionally, a vertical wooden hydraulic press is used for the pressing process.

Exceptional quality grapes are essential for this winemaking approach without electricity, as every aspect of the process is directly reflected in the wine being created, with minimal intervention. The wine is then aged in oak barrels, and after maturation, it is bottled using a manual corker, without fining or filtration.