It was in 1959 that Evangelos Averoff introduced the idea of "estate-bottled wine" to Greece. As a concept, wine grown, produced and bottled on a single estate favoured and necessitated a rethinking of the way vines were grown. This led, in turn, to a rise in quality. The area he chose to replant with vines was in Metsovo, at an altitude of 1000 metres on a suitable slope oriented perfectly for the highest quality yield. Planting the vineyard with Greece’s first Cabernet Sauvignon vines, Averoff pioneered the cultivation of foreign grape varieties; by a stroke of good luck, his imported vines also included Cabernet Franc and Merlot shoots. The singularities of the vineyard and the originality of the grape varieties in a Greek setting proved to be the corner stones of a unique wine investment.
The estate's first wine was made on the lower storey (katogi, in Greek) of the Averoff family home in Metsovo and christened "Katogi Metsovo". Evangelos Averoff designed the label himself on a sheet of notepaper with his MP letterhead on it. Enthused with what he had started, his vision of a Greek "estate grown and bottled" wine took flight with the construction of a winery on the outskirts of Metsovo equipped with everything required to produce wine of an ever higher quality.
On Evangelos Averoff's death, Katogi Metsovo was renamed "Katogi Averoff" in his memory. The winery continues to expand, along with the range of wines produced there, and the company has continued to develop in a manner inspired by the values of its founder but moulded to meet the demands and challenges of our era. Thus, while Katogi Averoff respects tradition, it is never afraid of embracing innovation and has broken new ground in setting up Greece’s first wine-tourism hotel, adorning its winery with works of art and audio-visual installations and in its efforts to promote wine-tourism and develop wine culture. In short, Katogi Averoff has created an inclusive and all-embracing wine experience.
Today, half a century on, "Katogi Averoff" epitomizes a fine Greek red. It is the symbol of a vision transformed into reality.