Dalamara Winery

A family estate where Kostis Dalamaras produces both traditional and experimental Xinomavro. The Paliokalias vineyard holds century-old vines. The tasting experience includes comparison of different vineyard sites, demonstrating Naoussa's terroir diversity.

What to do there

3 things to do

1. 1 Meet the Sixth Generation - Both Winemakers, One Marriage History · Free

   Dalamara traces to the 1840s. The sixth generation is a husband-wife team both trained in Burgundy.

   This winery has been making wine in Naoussa since the 1840s - before Boutari, before phylloxera, before Greek independence was fully consolidated. Six generations later, Kostis studied Viticulture and Oenology at Beaune (the heart of Burgundy) and worked in biodynamic wineries in France and Spain before coming home. His wife Maria is ALSO a winemaker - this is a dual-professional partnership running a 6-hectare estate that's been organic since 1996 and biodynamic since 2008. Small, serious, and family in the deepest sense. In the tasting room reception, look for photos of Kostis Dalamaras and Maria Doulgeridou - the estate's husband-and-wife winemaking team. Ask: 'Who makes the final blending decisions - Kostis or Maria?' The answer will tell you about their working dynamic. Often it's a negotiation, which is exactly how the best wines get made.

   Backup: Look for the year 2008 somewhere in the tasting room signage or bottle notes - that's when they converted from organic to full biodynamic. The decision to go further is its own story.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Taste Burgundy Logic Applied to Xinomavro Wine · Price: moderate

   Kostis trained at Beaune. The question is what Burgundy's obsession with terroir expression looks like when applied to Macedonia's native grape.

   Burgundy's core philosophy is that the PLACE matters more than the grape. Kostis spent years at Beaune internalizing this. Then he came home to 6 hectares of Xinomavro and applied it. The result: instead of making one Naoussa wine from blended parcels (the commercial approach), he separates by vineyard block - limestone versus clay, low versus high slope. This is EXACTLY what Burgundy producers do with their village, premier cru, and grand cru designations. Xinomavro with Burgundy methodology on Greek terroir. No other winery in Naoussa makes this argument as clearly. At the tasting table, if multiple wines are poured, ask: 'Which parcel does this come from, and how does the soil differ?' The Burgundy training will be evident in how Kostis or Maria answers.

   Backup: Ask to see the vineyard map if one is available. Six hectares mapped by soil type is the biodynamic and Burgundian approach simultaneously.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Find the Oldest Vine Block - 1840s Roots in Macedonian Soil Adventure · Free · Optional

   Some of these vines have roots going back before the founding of modern Greece.

   The estate traces to the 1840s. While vines don't live that long without replanting, the LOCATION has been continuously farmed. The oldest surviving blocks are likely 50-80 years old - pre-dating the period when growers abandoned Xinomavro for international varieties. On a 6-hectare estate, nothing is anonymous. Every row has a history. The organic conversion in 1996 means these vines haven't been touched with synthetic chemistry in nearly 30 years. Walk the vineyard and look for gnarled trunk bases, thick bark, low training - the opposite of the trellised, vertical shoot-positioned modern plantings. Ask: 'How old is your oldest vine block?' The answer will situate you in Macedonian agricultural history.

   Backup: If the vineyard walk isn't offered, look at the window toward the vines from the tasting room. Even the view - mountain, old stone walls, vine rows running perpendicular to slope - tells the terroir story.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• The Paliokalias old-vine bottling is special

• Ask about terroir differences

• Family atmosphere

• Their rosé shows Xinomavro versatility