Anestis
Babatzimopoulos:
Distiller,
Winemaker, Chef
By Marc d’Entremont
The agile little car took easily to the
twisting, hilly roads as Mr.
Babatzimopoulos navigated through
Thessaloniki’s hill towns, now on the
Wine Roads of Northern Greece map,
stopping to pick up some fresh tomatoes
and bread in one. Cruising through the
lush summer countryside the journalist in
me commented, through Eva, on seeing
only a couple of solar panel farms in this
sunny land. With a large gesture, Anestis
replied he was happy because he wanted
nothing to mar the view. It certainly was a
grand view. At nearly 2,000 feet the eyes
took in sweeping vistas of classic rural
Greece with the sea glinting in the
distance.
I
Outside the ancie nt village of Ossa, the
t was 9:00 a.m. when informed by the desk that the driver had arrived. A dusty
many acres of Domaine Anesti
medium sized car sat out front of the Hotel Mediterranean Palace in Thessaloniki’s
Babatzimopoulou ramble over these
warm moist air. The driver, wearing a buttoned shirt and slacks, his full head of
classic hillsides. Sixty acres are planted
longish gray/white hair combed back over a sun-lined face, spoke no English, and I no
in both native and foreign grapes:
Greek. The awkward silence was broken when Evdokia (Eva) Tsatsouri of the
Thessaloniki Hotel Association arrived a few minutes later. She introduced Mr. Anestis
Babatzimopoulos, the renowned Greek wine maker, distiller, owner of A. Babatzim &
Co, founder of Domaine Anesti Babatzimopoulou, and our driver.
Xinomavro, Cabernet Sauvignon and
Merlot grow alongside the white varieties
Athiri, Roditis, Assyrtiko, Malvasia,
Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.