Diamantis Winery sits in the rugged, mountainous north-western hinterland of Macedonia. A place of stark beauty and cool climate which, unlike most of Greece, sees no sea softening maritime influences from either the Aegean or Ionian by virtue of its high, inland isolation. In this landscape sits Siatista, a town whose history with vines runs back to at least 1670, although since records have been lost or destroyed by various revolutions, wars, and conflagrations both specifically in western Macedonia and Greece more generally, the true length and breadth of the viticultural history of this area is somewhat obscured. In this wind-swept and arid locale, anchored on an impressively rocky limestone terroir, Diamantis Winery’s own specific story goes back to the beginning of 20th century when Dimitrios Diamantis’ grandfather, one of Siatista‘s leading grape growers, hand-grafted the now centennial vineyard of the Domaine on the family land with the region’s foundational vines of Xinomavro, and the rare local red-skinned varieties that pre-existed mainly in Siatista, Moschomavro and Nigrikiotiko.

For the Xinomavro, the grapes come from both old and young vines. The grapes are fermented in stainless steel and then aged in 500-liter used oak barrels for 1–2 years. The wine is kept in the bottle for another year before release.