Vineyards meet Olive Groves in Ilia Prefecture
The richness and peculiarities of the Vineyard and the Olive Grove of the Prefecture of Ilia was highlighted at FOOD EXPO 2023, during an event organized by of the Ilia Chamber of Commerce, Region Of Western Greece.
The “Make Noise Event” that took place at this year’s FOOD EXPO casted the spotlight on the Vineyard and the Olive Garden of the Prefecture of Ilia, a fertile and rich area that produces excellent quality olive oil and wine, organizing two tastings in which the participants were olive oil companies and wineries based in the prefecture of Ilia.
The presentation of the wine tasting was undertaken by the well-known wine consultant Mr. Simos Georgopoulos. With his help the attendees tested wines from ten wineries of the prefecture of Ilia, wines with an excellent taste and special character, made from important Greek varieties, such as Augustiatis, Mavrodaphni and Tinaktorogos.
Following the wine presentation, Mr. Nikos Koutsoukos, President of the Kalamata Olive Oil School and member of the ELGO DIMITRA Tasting Team, and Mr. Takis Dimitrakopoulos, member of the Association of Greek Olive Oil Standard Industries Tasting Team, guided the participants to an equally interesting tasting of olive oils from the olive oil mills of the Prefecture, which are either single varietal or blends from local varieties, such as Nemutiana and Kolireiki.
The wineries that took part were: Theofili – Alexandros Stagourakis, Drouva Estate, Merkouri Estate, Brintziki Estate, Olympia Ghi Estate, Stavropoulos Estate, Konstantinopoulos Winery, Markogiannis Winery, Skoutas Winery and ΜΙΚΡΟΒΙΟ / Koutsodimou Estate.
The olive oil mills that took part were: Iliaki Eleourghia, Ilias Eleon, Grammatikou Estate, Merkouri Estate, Lapithas Eleourgiki, Monopati, Eleia – Spiliadis, Zagkas Evaggelos, Eutropia Organic Olive Oil, Mponovolias Agrology, Olympia Green, Oilympian Koufolias, Pure Products Theofil and The Olive Temple – A.M.G. Karabelas Family.
The highly successful event, with the presence of Mr. Thanos Panagoulias, CEO of FORUM SA and many executives of the company, was attended by a large number of people. After the end of the event, the president of the Ilia Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Konstantinos Nikoloutsos, said: “On the occasion of the exhibition, we met important visitors, Greeks and foreigners, who are interested in wine and olive oil. With events like the one held today; we aspire to not simply promote Ilia wine but to connect gastronomy with tourism. There is currently a great demand for the so-called “experience tourism”. Gastronomy and wine tourism can certainly be an important part of such experiences. The particularly high quality of the products produced by the Prefecture of Ilia allows us to hope to attract more quality tourism, people who appreciate and seek these experiences, and can create an increase in per capita consumption. Especially regarding olive oil, we do not stop at the excellent quality of the raw material, but we all make great efforts, a continuous struggle to improve cultivation practices and oil production. The results so far are more than encouraging, but our goal is to get better every year.”
The “Make Noise Event” by FORUM SA, organizing company of FOOD EXPO, and came to life in the context of the program CREATIVE@HUBS: Holistic Networking of Creative Media Through Collaborative Spaces, Interreg Greece-Italy 2014-2020, with the support of the Region of Western Greece, Region of Epirus, Region of Ionian Islands and Regione Puglia (Italy). The project is co-financed by the European Union and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with the National Participation of Greece and Italy.