Greek unsung terroirs: Siatista and Diamantis Estate

I first heard about Siatista region situated in Western Macedonia, between the cities of Kozani and Grevena, about a decade ago when I was still flying helos. That came from a pilot that was born in a village nearby suggesting that Siatista had a long tradition into producing sublime, sweet wines. I was at that point little engaged in wine but made my research only to find out that no commercial example existed.

Some of the first reference celebrating the region for sweet wines in particular, goes back to early 19th century. These wines called ''Iliasta'' are still produced in the region by air-drying the grapes like in Tuscany's Vin Santo for two months, often even longer. Unfortunately the vineyards have shrunk the last decades from 1100 ha to about 350 tells me producer Dimitris Diamantis of Diamantis Estate.