Voyatzi Estate is located in Velvendo, thirty-three km south-east from Kozani, on the foothills of Pieria Mountains, by the Lake Polyfytos, a picturesque town in Western Macedonia. Velvento is a traditional settlement with notable Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments, it is enveloped in scenic landscape composed of the lush slopes of the Pieria Mountains, the Skepasmeno Gorge, with its ponds and waterfalls, the 56 picturesque chapels and the fertile plain, full of orchards and vineyards. To the west of the village flows the Haliacmon and to the east rise the Pierian Mountains.
The Tradition
«I always knew my roots were in Velvento… at home I heard nothing but nostalgia and longing for that place…»
Μαργαρίτα και Χαρίσης Βογιατζής, 2000
In Velvento, as in the whole of Macedonia, viticulture is a deep-rooted practice with a long tradition. In the last century, vine growing was one of the main local farming occupations, the vineyards covering an area of approximately 260 hectares. Phylloxera, an insect that gradually destroys vineyards, emerged in 1920. The vineyards were restored after 1930, grafting local as well as foreign variety cuttings onto American rootstocks. Until today, about 12 hectares of vines have been preserved, representing an important part of the rural landscape.
Voyatzi family enjoys a long heritage as wine merchants, documented since the early 20th century, when large quantities of wine from the Velvendo area were transported for sale at the growing town of Katerini. There the family settled, running a taverna till 1992.
In 1997, Yannis Voyatzis after his PhD in oenology and viticulture at the University of Bordeaux, France and a substantial experience in Greek wine production, along with his brother Nikos and their father Harisis, they decided to return to their birthplace Velvento and establish a new vineyard to make wine, which today reaches an area of 12 hectares.
The on-site management of the winery is carried out by chemist-oenologist Irini Zande while the vineyards are attended with the utmost care and love by our cousin Nikos I. Voyatzis. The next generation of the family, Margarita N. Voyatzi, is actively involved, participating in the team’s common vision.
Οι άνθρωποι
Yannis Voyatzis
Founder & Oenologist
Nikos Voyatzis
Founder & Operations Manager
Margarita Voyatzi
Oenologist, Communication & Tasting Room Manager
Eirini Zande
Oenological Manager
Nikos Voyatzis
Viticulture Manager
Dimitris Palavos
Production Assistant