Wine tourism in the Northern Aegean

COPY R Northeast Aegean Islands_Samos

Wine tourism in the Northern Aegean begins with a relatively short and easy tour of Lemnos. The Lemnos vineyards produce Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Lemnos white wines and the sweet PDO Lemnos Muscat. The fort and the archaeological museum of Myrina, ancient Poliochni, Kavirio and the Hortarolimni Lake and Alyki Lake wetlands in the Moudros area are the most notable sites of interest in Lemnos.

Southeast of Lemnos, Lesvos, which is the third largest Greek island, for the time being offers few opportunities for wine tourism in the Northern Aegean. Among many other things, visitors to Lesvos can see the castle and the archaeological museum in Mytilene, the castle of Molyvos, the Museum of Industrial Olive Oil Production in Agia Paraskevi and the Lesvos Petrified Forest Geopark and its museum in Sigri. Other than wine, the numerous local delicacies are accompanied by ouzo, the unique and exclusively Greek alcoholic, anise-flavoured drink made by large and small producers on the island.

Since 2009, wine tourism in the Northern Aegean has expanded to Chios, which is famous for the mastic (PDO Chios Mastiha) that has taken over markets all over the world. The famous Ariousios wine was produced in Chios in antiquity. Today, the revived vineyards of Chios and the potential for wine tourism are located in the northwestern part of the island, in the Amani area. The fort and archaeological museum in the City of Chios, Nea Moni ("New Monastery") and the fortified Medieval settlements of southern Chios are just a few of the sights of the island.

Wine tourism in the Northern Aegean is rounded off with the islands of Samos and Ikaria. The Samos vineyard is a natural monument that is sure to impress visitors to the north side of the island with its layout. This vineyard produces PDO Samos wines, which are the best-known Greek sweet wines. Their history is documented in the Samos Wine Museum in the town of Samos. The archaeological sites in Pythagorion and Heraion, the Tunnel of Eupalinos, the archaeological museum in the town of Samos, the archaeological collection in Pythagorio and the Natural History Museum in Mytilinioi are just some of the sites of interest in Samos, which has a rich folk tradition. In Ikaria, the Pramnios wine of antiquity was produced near ancient Oinoe, where the archaeological museum of Ikaria is located. There is an archaeological collection in Agios Kyrikos, where there are also thermal springs.