is the viticultural Methuselah in the south-west facing valley bottom of Kazaviti. With a splendid sea view and lovely meandered vineyard drywalls, we flirted with with being able to take this gem under our wing for half a decade. Since January 2016, we have planted 100-year-old autochthonous vines, initiated a reactivation campaign, which on Thasos, is uncomparable up to date. The Ancient Vineyard rescue project was born.

It is alleged that the Phoenicians brought the terrace culture to Thasos. If we look at the outgoing zone of the olive groves below Platon’s Vineyard, at 320 metres above sea level, we no longer doubt it. The olive tree species “Throumba” came by early expeditions of the independent Syrian small kingdoms of Phoenicia to Thasos. That means, that these old plants, located below our vineyard which still generate a yearly harvest till today, must be around or over 2000 years old. That much in a nutshell.

To understand Thasos, or a developing island settlement in general; considering the aspects of time and space over the course of millennia, one must note that there were always “Golden Years”. Each settler and traveler brought his gifts within the form of crops and old livestock breeds. Sometimes as settlers, sometimes just as a gift to honor their host with the noblest plants of his heritage.

Therefore isolated forms of various species, we can still find in our vineyard again today, remain. A highly diverse ancient vineyard. We still have to surrender to the manifold and versatile phenology of different plants in our vineyard nowadays. Hence we also encounter new types of mutations similar to Pinot. The vine population was obtained among others by the restocked vineyards from Mount Athos, Halkidiki in ungrafted condition.

4000 sqm, 1000 ungrafted vines, located on four terraces, since 1875 as such in agricultural use, old forgotten varieties, old forgotten fruit trees, wild oregano, fennel and cysts, bothersome elms and majestic pines, located 2100 kilometres away from the weinserien.-headquarters. The facts conclude that it could not be any more of a challenge for us.

We accept this challenge, take it further and invite all those interested to join us on a vinicultural excursion.