George Skouras
Proprietor/Winemaker
skouras wines
Nemea, Peleponnese, Greece
Spotlight No. 21
George Skouras grew up in Peleponnese, not far from the agricultural area of Nemea. His family was not in agriculture and had no particular interest in wine. George loved chemistry and was planning to be a doctor when he grew up. But when it came time to take the exams for entrance into the university, he began having doubts. He missed the deadline for the exams and had to rethink his ideas about the future. The best idea he could think of was to go to France and learn to speak French. He could stay with friends of his parents, which was agreeable to everyone involved. George was on his way—to his destiny, as it turns out.
While partaking in the French joie de vivre, George became friends with a professor in Aix-en-Provence who had a friend in Montpellier. The professor had a car but could not drive. George could drive but had no car. They formed a perfect team for an adventure. George was enraptured as they approached a giant iron gate, ancient hinges creaking open to reveal a fantastic old château surrounded by a sea of green vineyards. It was le coup de foudre, love at first sight.
The proprietor was a generous host. He showed them everything: the château, the vineyards and finally the cellar, where their host said, “Shall we drink some wine? What year were you born? 1959. Okay, let us open that. Your father’s birth year? Let us open that, too.” George felt as if he were both watching and living inside a beautiful dream.
That was George’s first contact with wine, and from that point on he knew what he had to do. He enrolled in enology at the University of Dijon. From there he went to work in different regions around France to learn everything from rinsing the tanks to delivering the wine. Eventually he made his way back to Greece. His father moved his car onto the street and George became one of the first garagistes, making wine in his father’s garage. He scrimped and saved to buy vineyards he found while riding his bicycle around the mountains and valleys of Nemea.
Maybe that is why he is so paternal about the region. He wants visitors to see it the way he does. “Look there,” he says. “What do you see? A mountain, and another mountain, and in between, a valley!” The mountains and valleys are important because they influence the climate and the winds that swirl from all directions, cooling the vines as well as the soil.
George recalls finding his first vineyard. “See my stones,” he says as he kneels down to touch them. “Beautiful limestone rocks. To prepare the vineyards you have to remove them. Thousands of them.” Then he insists I put my camera down and touch for myself. “Notice how in the sun they are very hot. But here under the vines they are cool. You must look for the shadows, plant so that the vines create shadows for their fruit.” It is simple for George: “To make a vineyard, you must be the vineyard.”
Nemea is known for its Agiorgitiko, one of three of Greece’s varieties thought to be capable of making world-class wines. It can be translated into many different wine types, depending on where it is grown and the skill of the winemaker. It is often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, which lends structure to the wines. This is what George did with his first vintage in 1986. It took George a few years to understand Greece’s native varieties and have more confidence elaborating them on their own.
Now George makes 14 wines from various varieties planted in vineyards around the region. When he tastes them, he looks to his inside eyes, reflecting on the vineyards and the vintage, sentiently observing them come together on his palate. Then he comes back to the room with a satisfied grin, his objective achieved. Everything is in place, deliciously integrated.
George considers himself a lucky man. He has had three mentors in his life, and he has a beautiful, supportive wife and two children, including a son who is studying enology in Dijon. Creating a winery from scratch was a lot of hard work, but George has no regrets because every moment has been lived with a passion for nature and wine he never imagined possible.
George Skouras is featured on Terroir Talking’s Speak Greek Video — Winner of Wine Spectator’s 2018 Most Educational Video.
