THYMIOPOULOS

Committed to organic and biodynamic farming, and working with indigenous grapes, Apostolos Thymiopoulous is one of the winemakers steering Greek wines towards an innovative future and global recognition. Sarah Jane Evans MW meets the charismatic master of Xinomavro at his home in northern Greece

- Sarah Jane Evans MW

The car screeches to a halt by an isolated, dusty roundabout to pick us up and we race off to the vineyards. But what vineyards! A hillside in the shadow of snowcapped Mount Olympus, in full sun, with a fresh breeze and a breathtaking view of the Aegean sea sparkling in the distance. There’s a glorious sensation of good health, appropriate for a producer who follows organic and biodynamic practices, and whose main problems in the vineyard are wild boars, greedy birds and, very occasionally, locusts. Our host is vivid in a pink polo shirt, blue shorts and shades. He definitely doesn’t look like the typical winemaker. I definitely have the sensation of being in a film.

We are in the tiny PDO of Rapsani, about a 90-minute drive south of Thessaloniki, towards Athens. I am visiting Apostolos Thymiopoulos. He’s one of a new generation of wine people in Greece who are driving a step change in the country’s wines – and in their international reputation. He’s a native of Naoussa, located about half an hour away (hence the hectic driving to and fro). His family home in Trilofos is close to Aristotle’s school in Mieza, where the philosopher is said to have taught Alexander the Great.

High praise

His rise to international recognition has been as fast as his driving, yet it may have felt as if he were pushing water uphill. He was the first in the family to bottle wine. He was using the local variety Xinomavro, hardly known outside Greece, and from a region few could (and many still can’t) place on the map. Furthermore, quality Greek wine had a low profile in export markets, the main exceptions being prestige red wines made from international varieties.