HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY
In a place with a vast history of viticulture and winemaking, dating back 3,500 years, the wine-producing region of Nemea is blessed with an amazing variety of microclimates, providing wines with impeccable characteristics. Ktima Palivou is a family winery founded in 1995 in Ancient Nemea.
The family owns more than 50 hectares of vineyards with Greek and international varieties, always based on Agiorgitiko, which are cultivated exclusively with organic and sustainable methods, in accordance with the principles of biodynamic cultivation. With experience and excellent cultivation techniques, we help the vines express their character through their grapes and this is translated into your bottle.
The Palivos family winery, one of the oldest wineries in Ancient Nemea, aims to highlight the characteristics of the Nemea soil.
The vinegrower and winemaker is George Palivos, assisted by his wife Aggeliki, and the 3rd generation are their daughters Evangelia and Vasiliki Palivos, who inherited their parents’ passion for winemaking.
The ethos of our cultivation is absolute respect for the vine, letting it express its unique character and intervening only with natural methods whenever the vine asks us to.
FACES
George Palivos
“Behind the wine is the winegrower… and behind time is knowledge, and behind all of this are the vines and the sun and the rain and his will…”
Aggeliki Palivou
Vassiliki & Evangelia Palivou
THE REGION
The wider region of Nemea, also known in mythology from the first labor of Hercules, is the largest wine-growing zone in Greece in which the famous PDO Nemea wines are produced.
The area has been famous for its wine since ancient times, when it was called Fliasion Pedion and reached its peak in the 6th century BC. Just 127km from Athens, on the road from Corinth to Nafplio and Tripoli, in the Nemea region, is the largest vineyard in the Balkans, with 2500 hectares of vineyards and 800 meters from the imposing archaeological site of Ancient Nemea is the Ktima Palivou.
ΝΕΜΕΑ
Next to today’s Ancient Nemea there was the temple of Zeus, while in its surroundings there was the hostel, the bath and the stadium where from 573 BC the Nemean Games were held regularly every two years.
According to tradition, the Nemean Games were held every two years, on the second full moon after the summer solstice and were part of the great, pan-Hellenic games.
The games were held within the sacred area of the Temple of Nemean Zeus where there was a hippodrome and a stadium and could accommodate 40,000 spectators. The winner was crowned with celery branches and the names of great winners are still engraved on the stones of the stadium.
The Nemean region was chosen as the site of the Nemean Games by the Argive king Adrastus, because at that point during the campaign of the Seven against Thebes, he met the queen of Lemnos Hypsipyle with her son Opheltes, son of the Nemean priest Lycurgus, and they were led by him to a nearby spring because they were thirsty. However, a snake bit Opheltes and he died. The Argive leaders founded Nemean games in his honor.
Nemea continued to have a funereal character, which was revealed by the black robes worn by the Hellanodikes and the grove of cypresses around the sanctuary of Zeus. As in Olympia, musical competitions were not included in Nemea.
In the summer of 1996, thanks to the efforts of both the Municipality of Nemea and the American Archaeological School, the games were revived after 2,300 years.
Considered a global sports festival, which takes place every 4 years, it attempts to authentically restore its connection today with the ancient Greek athletic ideal.
People from 12 to 88 years old, regardless of gender, color, beliefs, performance, free from the anxiety of being first or distinguished, come to Nemea as spectators, athletes, to feel the joy of participation, the sense of brotherhood of peoples and people, the greatness of noble competition.
VINEYARD & WINERY
The vineyards extend across different areas of Ancient Nemea, with the most privileged one being at an altitude of 460 meters. In the plain, the northern winds, especially in the summer months, favor the maintenance of its hygienic condition and contribute to the proper ripening of the grapes.
It is a vineyard integrated into the system of integrated management, that is, in an alternative way of cultivating organic agriculture.
The soils, although often of low fertility, yield high quality grapes and range from calcareous, clayey, loamy, gravelly to sandy that have come from the crushed sandstones.
In Ancient Nemea, the microclimate is ideal for Agiorgitiko to thrive and perfectly express its character.
The particular combination of the microclimate of each vineyard, which can be defined by the soil, topography, weather conditions, in conjunction with the contribution of human resources, can give a unique and qualitative character to each wine individually.
The best way to get to know the production process of the wine with the famous name Nemea, is to follow us on a journey that passes through the vineyard and the viticulture, where it all begins, continues in the winery and evolves in the aging room of the estate with its 350 oak barrels of French and American oak.