WINE-PRODUCING REGIONS | CORINTHIA

CORINTHIA

Corinth is perhaps the only Greek wine-producing region where the quality of the wines varies so greatly. On the one hand, we find the production of excellent red PDO wines in Nemea, while on the other hand there is the mass production of cheap wines, mainly from the white variety Roditis. Nemea, together with Naoussa, stands out as one of the most recognizable red wine production zones in Greece, both due to the quality and quantity of the wines, as well as for the number of its producers and its international reputation. The Nemea vineyard is the largest PDO red wine area in the country, with approximately 30,000 acres planted with the exquisite red variety Agiorgitiko. The crop is grown in three different altitudinal zones: the lowland (260-350 m.), around the cities of Nemea and Ancient Nemea, the semi-mountainous (350-600 m.), on the western and southwestern slopes of the hills surrounding the plain, and the mountainous (600-800 m.), in the valleys and highlands at the foot of Mount Kyllini. The vineyards are formed in a bilateral linear shape with a moderate planting density, approximately 400-500 plants per hectare. At lower altitudes the soils are alluvial, fine-grained in the center of the plain and coarser towards the edges of the hills, with low fertility and limited water capacity. In the semi-mountainous zone, in shallow limestone soils, Agiorgitiko ripens earlier, benefiting from the mild climatic conditions, while in the mountainous zone, ripening is delayed and is completed mainly in October, depending on the conditions of each year.