Wine Seminar at Afianes Wines

A fusion of wine tradition, archaeology, and innovation on the island of Ikaria.

Located on the Ikarian highlands overlooking the western end of the island, Afianes wine estate spreads across a verdant hilltop interspersed with natural granite outcroppings — a sanctuary for wine and nature lovers. Nikos Afianes and his wife Maria created the estate in 1997 in the Raches district, aiming to return Ikarian wine to the global map. Today, Afianes wines combine the ancient wine traditions of Ikaria with exquisite local grape varieties and innovative winemaking methods.

Visitors can get acquainted with the traditional Ikarian way of making wine, starting with the old “cyclopean horseshoe-shaped winepress” and the stone cellar for clay jars. The state-of-the-art winery is built within a large vineyard in the village of Profitis Elias, in northwestern Ikaria, at an altitude of 610 m.

The wine seminar is a unique 4-hour walking tour with three scenic stops to taste three natural wines: Litani Begleri 2019 white dry (with extra virgin olive oil from Ikaria and traditional rusks), Icarus Black 2016 red dry (with aged Gruyere from Naxos and local Ikarian tomatoes), and Pithari Red 2018 red dry (with local organic strawberries from Ikaria). All Afianes wines use natural, organic, and biodynamic cultivation with wild yeasts exclusively.

Return to the estate for a full winery tour: the mini-folklore museum, the granite press, the “anti-pirate” stone house, the wine cellar, and the cistern. The tour is led by a certified sommelier or by winemaker K. Afianes himself.

Enjoy a traditional lunch featuring fresh local products, accompanied by 2 glasses of wine per person, with views of the open sea. Reservation required 24 hours in advance.

Winery Tour and Wine Tasting

• Archaeological Wine Context: Learn about the ancient wine culture of Ikaria and the archaeological discoveries that shaped Afianes’s approach to indigenous grape varieties
• Professional Wine Seminar: A structured four-hour wine education tasting covering aroma identification, palate development, and wine pairing methodology in the Aegean Islands
• Rare Variety Masterclass: Taste wines from ancient archaeological grape varieties found at no other winery in the world