There is often the misconception that it is easy for someone to produce a premium wine, yet what changes the game is the work in the vineyard. The challenges are well recorded including an extra load of labour and rigorous selection of fruit, all costly decisions to get the appropriate quality of fruit.
And just a walk in Ieropoulos vineyards is a real eye-opener. Together with his viticulturist Yiannis Kanakis he has managed to produce some of the smallest bunches of Agiorgitiko grape I have ever seen! Kanakis tells me that irrigation management is absolute key to get small but very concentrated berries. Yields are on average 40 hl/ha and green harvest is a standard procedure until the vines reach the desirable balance.