A collaboration between famed Greek wine family Tselepos and the Chrissou family, a well-known Santorini-based family with a long tradition in viticulture on the island, has led to a new project that is rapidly rising to become the new star of Santorini. Canava Chrissou-Tselepos is now joining forces with Nimbility to build their markets across APAC, with a strong initial focus on Mainland China.

Tselepos Wines specializes in producing unique, premium wines from indigenous varieties grown in the most emblematic Greek viticultural areas. The Chrissou family’s 10-hectare, privately-owned vineyard on the island of Santorini consists of mainly 100-year old, own-rooted Assyrtiko vines trained in the traditional “Kouloura” (small basket) system. Thus, when winemaker Yannis Tselepos first discovered this vineyard, it was clear that he had found what he was looking for. The two families aligned and formed a collaboration with the goal of making wines that will earn their place among the best white wines in the world.

“We want to convince the market, both domestic and international, that Santorini’s wines rightfully deserve to be included in the category of super-premium wines,” says Yannis Tselepos. “This is helped by the fact that the company is particularly extrovert, with its export activity reaching up to 80% of the total production. We are therefore really happy to be starting this new partnership with Nimbility in China as we, as a company, have had strong bonds with China for a long time and we firmly believe that China and the Asian market, as a whole, will be the front-runner in the wine scene for the next decades. Our main goal through this partnership is to familiarize the Chinese wine lovers with the indigenous variety Assyrtiko and demonstrate the exceptional quality of wines that this grape can produce in the utterly unique terroir of Santorini.”

On Santorini, one of the most ancient vineyard sites in the world, Assyrtiko, one of the most renowned varieties in Greece, finds its supreme expression. Extremely low yields, the result of Santorini’s exclusively dry farming practices, hot climate and poor volcanic soils, coupled with extremely difficult manual labour in the vineyards, gives rise to very high prices of fruit and only the very finest, premium quality wines.

Due to its volcanic, sandy soil, Santorini has never been affected by phylloxera, thus preserving the vineyards on their original rootstocks and creating a unique “terroir” responsible for the utterly unique, high-quality wines produced on this beautiful island. The wines are characterized by high acidity and high concentration of flavour with standout minerality, great complexity and ability to age and improve for years after bottling.

Indeed, Canava Chrissou-Tselepos is well on their way proving these wines rank amongst the best white wines in the world. Their Laoudia Santorini Assyrtiko 2018 was recently awarded Best In Show and the only Greek wine in the Top 50 Trophy Winning Wines at this years’ Decanter World Wine Awards. An enormous feat for a relatively new project of such tiny proportions!

Starting this August Nimbility will be introducing the wines to potential buyers through a series of bespoke events hosted at Hellas House, a landmark of Greek culture and lifestyle in the heart of Shanghai, that will act as the spiritual home of Canava Chrissou-Tselepos in China. The vision of Pavlos and Sophia Kontomichalos, Hellas House showcases the very best of Greek Culture, Gastronomy and Hospitality, making it the perfect location from which to host an initial series of intimate events that will introduce these stunning wines to China’s most influential wine lovers and buyers. A wider strategy, developed by Nimbility, will ensure these wines find their way into the very best restaurants and wine bars and into the hands of fine wine lovers across APAC.

The following Canava Chrissou-Tselepos Wines can currently be found in China via Amphora Wines

- Canava Chrissou-Tselepos Santorini Assyrtiko 2019

- Canava Chrissou-Tselepos Laoudia Santorini Assyrtiko 2018

- Canava Chrissou-Tselepos Nykteri Santorini Assyrtiko 2018

For more information about Canava Chrissou-Tselepos in Asia, please contact info@nimbilityasia.com

Santorini’s Rising Star Canava Chrissou-Tselepos Partners with Nimbility