Chatzivaritis is a small and certified organic winery, in one of 4 PDO zones of the Xinomavro red grape, where the focus is on. The 12 ha vineyards are certified organic, with manual and green harvesting.
It all started when Evangelos Chatzivaritis and his wife, Olga Iakovidou, a native of Goumenissa, started making wine for their friends from their vineyards in Goumenissa, back in 1982. Their love for winemaking led to plantings of new vineyards, and, eventually, their own winery in 2007. Their daughter, Chloe Chatzivaritis, is following on her parents’ footsteps and after studying oenology and acquiring experience in Greece, France, New Zealand, and Chile, she is serving as the winery’s oenologist.
The winery is focused on the local Xinomavro grape, as well as the rare Negoska, the blending grape for PDO Goumenissa, and the northern Greek expression of the Assyrtiko grape. There is also a lot of experimentation with completely natural wines.
- Winery: Chatzivaritis
- Focus: Organic wines of the Xinomavro grape
- Region: Goumenissa (Macedonia)
- Year founded: 2007
- Size: 12 hectares
- Grapes: Xinomavro / Negoska / Assyrtiko / Roditis / Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot / Sauvignon Blanc / Gewurtztraminer
- Viticulture: Organic
- Climate: Sub-dry to sub-humid with 650mm of yearly rain. Winters are dominated by the northern wind Vardaris, while in the Summer temperatures are kept low by southern and northeaster breezes.
- Soil: Sand / clay / loam
- Vine age: Planted between 1993 and 2007
- Altitude: 227m
- Distance from coast: 32 miles
- Percentage of estate owned grapes: 85%