Title – Name
Gerovassiliou Estate
Scope / Sector / Industry
Wine tourism
Country / Region
Greece, Thessaloniki, Epanomi
Why is it good practice?
The Gerovassiliou Estate is a good winery practice as it offers a variety of activities for wine and not only. It is a place where the wine making tradition meets other forms of culture, constituting not only a winery, but also a cultural center where Greek art and the tradition of wine are harmoniously combined and displayed to the visitor. At the same time, it is a company that, in practice, recognizes the responsibility it has towards the environment and its protection and acts in accordance with the principles of sustainability.
How is it applied?
The Gerovasileiou family has been active in the field of vines and wine since 1981. The Estate, with their winery and vineyards, is located on the slopes of Epanomi, 25 kilometers from Thessaloniki. The vineyard has an area of 950 acres, three sides of which are adjacent to the sea, and Greek and international varieties have been cultivated in it.
The aim of the company is the production of quality wines from the family’s privately owned vineyard with the typical characteristics of the microclimate (terroir) of the area and at the same time the realization of continuous experimentation for the study of Greek and international known and unknown varieties.
In addition to the winery, the Estate also houses the Gerovassiliou Wine Museum, which showcases the wine history. The museum includes two large collections: the collection of tirbousons, bottles, vases and ancient Greek banquet objects and the collection of viticulture, winemaking, barrel making and bottling tools. The Gerovasiliou family started already in 1976 to collect viticulture, winemaking, bottling and barrelmaking tools from all over the world. The tirbouson collection in particular, which dates back to the 1970s, numbers more than 2600 mechanical and non-mechanical tirbousons and is considered the 10th largest in the world, with the oldest tirbouson dating back to the 17th century.
The vineyard also features 38 large-scale works of art signed by contemporary and past artists.
There is also a restaurant, cafe and shop in the Visitor Reception Building.
As part of developing experiences, the Estate offers a variety of activities, which are briefly mentioned below:
- Visit and tour of the vineyard with a wine guide, tour of the production, bottling and Wine Museum areas.
- Tastings, some of which are accompanied by food.
- Educational programs to familiarize children with the vine and its products, the wine-making processes, the investigation of the concept of quality in terms of the production and consumption of products, etc. The winery, depending on the age of the educational groups, has plan a special program, which in some cases includes suggestions for activities before and after the visit.
- Meal with vegetables and herbs produced by the Estate itself.
- Purchase of standard products from the Estate itself, such as salt dipped in Avaton red wine, olive oil from the Estate’s olives, petimezi and mustoukouloura, from the Museum’s shop together with the wines.
In addition to the above, throughout the wine year a series of events takes place with two axes: wine and the museum. Regarding the events with a focus on wine, during the year there are tasting seminars in a closed circle, such as seminars for beginners, combination of wine and food seminars, wine games, etc. Regarding the events with a focus on the museum are not necessarily related to wine. For example, museum invites speakers who talks about theatre, history, poetry, science, etc. Occasionally, periodical exhibitions of photography and musical instruments, musical and theatrical performances are also hosted.
In addition to the services provided by the winery, another important reason why the Gerovassiliou Estate is a good practice wine tourism business is because it makes a significant effort for sustainability. In this context, the family is focused on environmental protection and strives to ensure full compliance with all environmental standards, with a priority on improving business performance. Specifically, it focuses on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, while investing in effective strategies to address climate change.
The specific actions it implements are summarized below:
- Implementation of organic cultivation in part of the wine grapes (Xinomavro).
- Utilization of manual work in a number of agricultural tasks – including harvesting.
- Creation of a production area with bioclimatic criteria.
- Installation of a photovoltaic plant with a power of 459.8 KWP to fully cover the company’s energy needs, contributing to the reduction of the environmental footprint. At the winery, four buildings cover all their energy needs through solar energy.
- Storage of surplus energy from photovoltaics for future consumption.
- Replacement of all lighting with LED lamps.
- Operation of the entire clark fleet with electricity and a significant reduction in the use of oil.
- Installation of two electric vehicle charging stations, serving company vehicles and visitors.
- Construction of a liquid waste treatment facility for the winery, with a final product capacity of 750 tons per year. The operation of the unit seeks to improve the liquid waste of the winery, resulting from the harvesting and winemaking operations. The treated waste is available for unlimited irrigation of the cane in the vineyard of the Estate.
- Creation of drainage projects for optimal water management in the vineyards.
Where is it applied?
The Gerovassiliou Estate, due to its location (very close to the urban center of Thessaloniki) is an easily accessible winery for the visitors, but also for the schools of the wider area. Due to its variety of educational and cultural activities, it is a place to visit either for education or for leisure. It is also addressed to the disabled, as it is fully accessible.
When did it applied?
The Gerovassiliou Estate started its wine making activity in 1981.
Results
The winery has won many national and international awards for its wines and more. Indicative awards are mentioned below:
- “One of the 100 best wineries in the world” for 8 years by the famous Wine and Spirits magazine of America.
- “Winery of the year” by the European Oenogastronomic Brotherhoods Council of Spain (2009).
- “One of the 6 best wine producers worldwide” by the Wein Gourmet Awards of Germany (2006).
- “The best wine producer of the Eastern Mediterranean” by the International Wine & Spirit Competition of the United Kingdom (2005).
- Gold medal from Alles über Wein-Das internationale Magazin für Wein of Germany (2004).
Other Information
The Gerovassiliou Estate, since 2016, has been certified with the “ELLA-DIKA MAS” mark, meeting the quantitative and qualitative criteria required: Greek ownership, Greek production, Greek products, with participation in environmental and social actions, care for health and worker safety, product safety and consumer protection.
In addition, the production process at the winery follows all hygiene and food safety requirements, as provided by the applied quality and food safety management system, which is certified according to ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 standards.
It has also been certified with the “ETHOS” mark for its Corporate Social Responsibility, implementing practices in favor of human rights, environmental protection and ethical and responsible governance.
In this context, the “Code of Ethics” has been designed with the aim of reflecting the general principles and rules of commitment of the Gerovassiliou Management towards the employees, as well as the professional behavior of all employees of the Estate.
The official website of the Gerovassiliou Estate is: https://www.gerovassiliou.gr/
