Agiorgitiko St. George Nemea 2021, Skouras

The color is bright yet deep morello cherry-red. The nose reveals aromas of blackberries, raspberries, and ripe strawberries with just a touch of tobacco and spices such as clove and cinnamon. It is a medium-bodied wine with elegant structure, balanced acidity, and very ripe, elegant tannins. The finish is moderately-long, dominated by red fruits and followed by sweet vanilla and black pepper.

About the Winery

George Skouras was born in Argos, one of the oldest cities in Europe, where culture and viticulture has been developing in the surrounding area for at least 3,000 years. In 1980, George decided to study agriculture at the University of Dijon in Burgundy, France, but he quickly turned to winemaking thanks to the region's noble grapes, as well as his contact with well-known local winemakers. Graduating from Dijon with a degree in Oenology, he worked in wineries in traditional wine producing regions of France, Italy, and Greece.

In 1986  he began to implement his vision for his own Estate. Initially, a small winery was set up in Pyrgela, a small village outside of Argos, renting vineyards and equipment from fellow Nemea winemakers and bottling with manual machinery. From the beginning, he had a singular, non-negotiable goal: simply to produce high quality wine .

The natural continuation was a boutique winery within the Nemea zone, at Gymno. The endless hours of manual work on a small scale were a valuable study in the Agiorgitiko variety and the Nemea Appellation of Origin. In 2004, a new facility was constructed in Malandreni, a village very close and northwest of Argos, in the Nemea viticultural zone. The new winery increased capacity and technological infrastructure, but not to make the wines more technical. For the Skouras team, technology is only a way of control–the wines should be made with only absolutely necessary interventions.

The Skouras Estate winery is located within the Nemea Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) zone. Nearby is Mantineia, also important for PDO white wines, while the general region is full of interesting vineyards. In all these areas the excellent Skouras vineyards extend, at altitudes from 60 meters to 1040 meters.

Today the production is around 850,000 bottles per year and 50% is exported to more than 25 countries. The international varieties grown are Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Viognier. The indigenous varieties are Agiorgitiko, Moschofilero, Roditis, Assyrtiko, Malagouzia and Mavrostyfo.