Nikos Karatzas
Greece
Nikos's Wines
- Greece
- 2Â wines
- 2Â styles
This super dedicated Bordeaux trained winemaker can transport you to Greece with a sip
- Nikos cut his teeth in one of the world epicentres for winemaking, Bordeaux, learning the tricks of the trade as a budding Oenologist before returning to his Greek homeland to roll up his sleeves and put his skills to practice.
- In that same year, Oenops Wines was founded and Nikos was quick to learn how he wanted his winemaking vision to take shape. He spent 24 hours of his first harvest destemming grapes by hand to make sure not an ounce of flavour was lost - that's how much quality means to Nikos.
- He works in immense detail in the vineyard and the winery with indigenous varieties from diverse Greek regions, to bring you authentic, elegant and super delicious wines that will transport you to Greece with one sip.
Vineyard Location
Nikos Karatzas's Story
Born in a small village in the northest part of Greece and raised in Drama. After my studies in chemical engineering in Thessaloniki, I found myself in Bordeaux studying Oenologie at the famous Institut d’Oenologie. I found Oenology a huge challenge for me in terms of all the parameters you have to know in order to produce “correct” wines. Studying it in a country where I didn’t speak the language, helped me a lot to feel enology more and understand it in depth. I came back to Greece in 2006, with a lot of passion for winemaking and to learn more and more about all the aspects in it.
Visiting many wineries and having the opportunity to talk with winemakers like August Clappe and Jean Louis Chave just after finishing my studies at Bordeaux was critical. Tasting the next 2-3 years many wines that have been altered in the palette by winemaking techniques helped me understand what I didn’t want to do. Then tasting some wines that I loved, helped me “see the light”!
The year Oenops Wines was founded, during the first days of the 1st harvest, I borrowed a destemmer. I didn’t like the quality of the work though, as it did some damage on the skin of the berries too.
So, with members of my family and two friends, we worked for almost 24 hrs to make the destemming by hand and follow the quality we aim at.
That first year. I followed each lot for almost 20 hrs per day.
Oenops Wines is my dream project - exploring indigenous varieties from diverse terroirs, with growers that share the same passion with us for vineyards and sustainable vine growing.
It is a big challenge for us to work with such a skilled consumer, like the Angels. The idea of having direct contact with the Angels is ideal. And this is the main reason why we want to work with Naked Wines.
Our goal is to work in every detail both in the vineyard and the winery, to offer them authentic, elegant and delicious wines that will travel them to Greece.
I am sure that via our collaboration and our direct contact with the Angels, we will find many ways in which Naked Wines will help us become better and better.
A little bit about me, I'm an early bird, I wake up at 5:30. Journaling and studying, as well as reviewing the plan of the day before 7:00.
By 8:00 I am either at the winery or the vineyards. 8-14:00 is always something about production or vineyards. Later work about the market. By 17:00 some walk in nature and then back home for dinner and some precious moments with family. By 20:00 reviewing the day and planning ahead the next day, and some reading or studying before getting to sleep by 22:00.
I like studying ancient philosophers, the life in ancient Greece and other civilizations. Also, I study biographies and books of some great men of nowadays like Jim rohn, Zig ziglar, tony robins etc. I really like sports, watching football and/or basketball. And I like travelling, walking in nature, and visiting winemaking regions abroad.
