📍 Peloponnese
The mountainous south of the Balkan Peninsula; PGI “Peloponnese” and the appellations Nemea, Mantinia, Patras and Monemvasia-Malvasia.
The Peloponnese is a mountainous peninsula at the very southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. Mountain ranges divide it into two wine zones: the centre and north, with Mantinia and Nemea, and the west, from the slopes of Panachaiko near Patras to the Ionian Sea and Messinia. The climate is mild Mediterranean, tempered in the north by the Gulf of Corinth. The administrative region of the same name covers 15,490 km², 11.7 % of Greece, with Arcadia, Argolis, Corinthia, Laconia and Messinia.
The regional wine PGI “Peloponnese” has been protected in the EU since 1 August 2009. Its technical file calls it the largest wine district in Greece: 220,000 stremmata of vineyards and about 1,500,000 hl of wine a year. The main grapes are Assyrtiko, Cabernet Sauvignon, Agiorgitiko, Roditis and Savatiano, alongside some 45 others.
Within it lie PDO appellations. Nemea, in Corinthia and Argolis, is Agiorgitiko only, with vines at 200–850 m. Mantinia, north-east of Tripoli and above 650 m, gives white wines from Moschofilero. Patras is a white from Roditis, while Mavrodaphne of Patras is sweet, with over 51 % Mavrodaphne and at least 12 months in oak.
In the south, in Laconia, lies Monemvasia-Malvasia, a PDO since 2011. A decision of the Venetian Senate in 1400 calls the fortress of Monemvasia “Malvasia”, and that was the name of its famous wine in the Middle Ages.
Why it matters to you. Nemea on a label means a red from Agiorgitiko only, and Mantinia a white from the pinkish-skinned Moschofilero. Malvasia was first the name of a wine from Monemvasia, not of a grape. Whites are served at 4–10 °C, reds at 15–18 °C.
How it connects to Wine
📍 Peloponnese ← grows in ← 🍇 Agiorgitiko → kind of → 🍇 Grape varieties → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🗺️ Greek wine
- Related to
- Greece: 📜 Arcadia, 📜 Achaea, 📜 Corinth, 📜 Laconia, 📜 Messinia, 📜 Slopes of Aigialeia, 📜 Pylia, 📜 Trifylia, 📜 Klimenti, 📜 Pisatis
🥃 Tentoura, 🥃 Ouzo of Kalamata, 🍷 Still wine - Wines made here
- 🍷 Mavrodaphne of Patras
- Grapes
- 🍇 Agiorgitiko, 🍇 Black Corinth, 🍇 Roditis, 🍇 Moschofilero, 🍇 Lagorthi, 🍇 Mavrodaphne
- Main grapes
- 🍇 Agiorgitiko, 🍇 Moschofilero, 🍇 Roditis, 🍇 Mavrodaphne
- Wines
- 🍷 Red wine, 🍷 White wine, 🍷 Rosé
- What grows here
- 📜 Olympia (olive oil), 📜 Lygourio Asklipiou (olive oil)
- Olive cultivars
- 🫒 Koroneiki, 🫒 Kalamon, 🫒 Tsounati
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Peloponnese?
In the south of the Balkan Peninsula; mountains divide it into a central and a western wine zone.
Which PDO appellations are in the Peloponnese?
Nemea, Mantinia, Patras, Muscat of Patras, Mavrodaphne of Patras, Muscat of Rio Patras and Monemvasia-Malvasia.
Is Mavrodaphne of Patras a single-varietal wine?
No. Mavrodaphne has to exceed 51 %; the rest is Korinthiaki (black Corinth).
Is Malvasia a grape?
Originally it was the name of a wine from Monemvasia: that is what the Venetian Senate called the fortress in 1400.
Which grape is Nemea made from?
Agiorgitiko only.
What to read next
- 🍷 Mavrodaphne of Patras — A sweet red fortified wine from the Greek city of Patras.
- 📜 Ilia — A regional wine of Ilia in the western Peloponnese, near Olympia.
- 🍇 Moschofilero — Pink-skinned wine grape from Greece; 12 synonyms in VIVC.
- 🫒 Koroneiki — Greece's most widespread oil cultivar, with small fruit: 50–60% of the country's olive land and the basis of “Kalamata”, “Sitia” and other protected oils.
- 🥃 Ouzo of Kalamata — Ouzo of Kalamata (Ούζο Καλαμάτας) is an EU protected name for ouzo from the municipality of Kalamata in Messenia, Peloponnese: anise and fennel, copper stills, at least 37.5% ABV.
Similar
📍 Thrace (Greece) · 📍 Epirus · 📍 Thessaly · 📍 Crete · 📍 Macedonia (Greece) · 📍 Patras
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.
What it includes
Sources
- eAmbrosia — technical file: PGI «Πελοπόννησος / Peloponnese» (Ares(2011)1411508)
- eAmbrosia — technical file: PDO «Νεμέα / Nemea»
- eAmbrosia — technical file: PDO «Μαυροδάφνη Πατρών / Mavrodaphne of Patras»
- eAmbrosia — technical file: PDO «Μονεμβασία-Malvasia»
- Wines of Greece: Peloponnese
- Simons C.T. Left out in the cold: Serving wines chilled. Temperature, 2019