AFIANES

Ikaria, Greece

Nikos and Maria Afianes founded their winery in 1997 with the goal of preserving ancient winemaking techniques, celebrating their rich cultural heritage, and innovating new approaches to making wine. The carbon footprint of the winery is important to Nikos and Maria, so most of the winemaking waste is composted and the rest is used in other products. The vineyard also includes a theater and gallery space.

The Afianes wines are made in huge granite vats and gravitationally pressed off into layer after layer of clay amphora buried in the ground. The process is an extreme version of a cross between the traditional Sicilian palmettos and Georgian qvevri. The grapes are grown organically using biodynamic principles.