Domaine Gerovassiliou

Evangelos Gerovassiliou rescued Malagousia from extinction, finding the last vines and replanting them. His estate near Thessaloniki combines wine production with an exceptional wine museum including ancient vessels and a corkscrew collection. The wines show what modern Greek viticulture can achieve.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Find the Grape That Nearly Died in the 1970s History · Free

   Malagousia was almost gone. One professor found the last vines. One student planted them. That student is Vangelis Gerovassiliou.

   In the 1970s, Malagousia was nearly extinct - replaced by more reliable or fashionable varieties. Professor Vassilis Logothetis found the last surviving vines in west-central Greece. His student, Vangelis Gerovassiliou, recognized the grape's extraordinary floral character and planted it in his family's vineyard on the Epanomi Peninsula in 1981. Today, Malagousia is one of Greece's most celebrated white grapes, planted across the country. Without this one student's obsession, it would be a footnote in a botanical survey. Look for any display about the Malagousia rescue story at Domaine Gerovassiliou (25km southeast of Thessaloniki) - it's the founding narrative of everything here. Ask: 'Is Vangelis still involved with the estate?' and then ask to see the founding vineyard block where the first Malagousia was planted.

   Backup: Look for any bottle of Gerovassiliou Malagousia on the tasting table. The front label has the grape name prominently displayed - no estate would name a wine after a grape if that grape hadn't been worth saving.

   Log Memory
2. 2 Taste the Wine That Smells Like No Other Greek White Wine · Price: moderate

   Malagousia is the aromatic outlier of Greek whites - and it only exists because one man refused to let it disappear.

   Pour the Gerovassiliou Malagousia and smell before you taste. The aroma is startling: intense floral notes (white flowers, jasmine), then citrus, then creamy stone fruit depth. Critics compare it to Viognier, to Albariño, to dry Muscat - but it's uniquely Greek, from soils cooled by Aegean breezes and sea-fossil sandy earth. Taste it: medium body, naturally high acidity preserved by the coastal location, a long finish with a floral echo. This wine exists because of a professor's botanical curiosity and his student's stubbornness. After tasting, ask: 'Is Malagousia now planted outside Greece?' The answer (no - it remains essentially exclusively Greek) confirms that you're tasting something genuinely irreplaceable.

   Backup: If Malagousia isn't poured, ask for any Gerovassiliou white - the Assyrtiko, the Viognier, or the blends. The winemaking philosophy is consistent across all whites: preserve aromatics, maintain freshness, let terroir speak.

   Log Memory
3. 3 Count the 2,600 Corkscrews in the Wine Museum Adventure · Price: moderate

   One of the world's largest corkscrew collections - and each piece represents a chapter in wine's social history.

   Vangelis Gerovassiliou collected over 2,600 bottle openers - some sources say nearly 3,000. This is not a vanity collection: corkscrews trace the history of sealed wine bottles, which traces the history of wine aging and quality. Each design solved a specific problem for a specific era of wine service. In the wine museum on the estate grounds (ask reception for directions), count how many distinct mechanical designs you can identify in the first display case. The oldest pieces will be the simplest - just a spiral wire with a handle. The progression from those to modern ones maps 300 years of wine culture.

   Backup: Ask the museum guide: 'Which piece is the most valuable and why?' The answer will identify which era of wine history the collection considers most significant.

   Log Memory
4. 4 Discover the Sandy Soil That Saved the Vines From Phylloxera Wine · Free · Optional

   The Epanomi Peninsula's sandy coastal soil is one of the few places in Europe where pre-phylloxera vines survived.

   Phylloxera - the root louse that destroyed almost all European vineyards in the late 19th century - cannot survive in sandy soil. It needs clay or loam for its tunneling behavior. The Gerovassiliou estate sits on sea-fossil sandy soil with cool Aegean breezes - soil that allowed original (own-rooted, not grafted) vines to survive. Ask for the vineyard walk through the 72-hectare estate and reach down to pick up a handful of soil from the vineyard path. Sandy soil drains through your fingers and feels gritty - completely different from the clay soils at Naoussa. This physical difference is why this wine tastes nothing like a Naoussa Xinomavro.

   Backup: Ask any estate staff: 'Are any of your vines on their original roots, ungrafted?' If yes, you're tasting wine from pre-phylloxera vine genetics - an increasing rarity in European viticulture.

   Log Memory

Insider tips

• The wine museum is essential

• Malagousia here shows the grape's potential

• Book the full tour including museum

• The ancient vessels are exceptional