Garalis Winery

White and orange wines with extended grape skin contact, rosé, red wines and two versions of high-quality retinite wine give the stamp of the present, while at the same time signaling the future.

The Garalis Winery was a lifetime dream and creation of Manolis Garalis and Maria Markaki. The winery was created in 2000 as it was their dream to create the own wine. The families of origin of both Manolis Garalis and that of his wife, Maria Markakis cultivated the land and the vineyard of Lemnos for over a century.

The Terroir of Lemnos: The island of Lemnos, in the North Aegean, is part of the volcanic arc of the Greek Archipelago. Since ancient times, Lemnos has been known both for its grain, as it was the granary of Ancient Athens, for its vines and wine. In Lemnos, approximately 5,000 acres of vineyards are cultivated, of which 90-95% are covered by the white Muscat of Alexandria, while the rest of the area is planted mainly with the ancient Greek red variety Limnio.

Our Vineyards: Garalis Winery operates 105 acres of vineyards, of which 60 acres are privately owned. The cultivation is exclusively organic, the formation of the vines in cups, while no vines are irrigated. Characteristic is the leveling in the planting of the vineyards, maintaining the exact same distance between the plants of 1.60m. both horizontally and vertically. The vines are precisely angled, the rows run vertically and diagonally, while many times the Winery’s vintners plow crosswise. The grapes grown for the production of Garalis Winery’s wines come from five plots, all in the area of Agios Dimitrios Lemnos.

Grape Varieties

Muscat of Alexandria is one of the primordial varieties of the Muscat family and is internationally regarded as an ‘ancient variety’, originating from Alexandria, Egypt. It arrived in Lemnos at the beginning of the 20th century from the Limnians of Egypt, together with the riches and ideas they acquired in Egypt. Moreover, the ‘touch of Egypt’ in Lemnos, beyond the wines, is also reflected in the architecture of the traditional mansions on the island. Although until 1950 the most widespread variety of the island was the red variety Limnio, locally known as Kalampaki, the Muscat of Alexandria gradually proved its ideal acclimatization with the dry thermal conditions and volcanic soils of Limnos. Being a variety with resistance to heat, dry vines and lack of water, for the last 70 years it has been by far the most widespread grape variety on the island.

The ancient, red variety Limnio is known on the island of Limnos as Kalampaki, although it became known outside the island as Limnio, indicating its origin. Although until 1950 the cultivation of the variety was prominent on the island of Lemnos, today it covers only 5-10% of its vineyards. But due to the unique quality of the grape and for reasons of historical continuity, Limnio is now cultivated more and more systematically on the island, offering a remarkable variety of styles and tastes. Limnio is clearly mentioned in Hesiod’s texts from 700 BC, while the “Limnia grape” mentioned in the “Onomastikon” of Polydeukis, probably refers to Limnio. The connection of the variety with the island of Lemnos is sealed with the establishment of PDO Lemnos red, the only Greek Denomination of Origin that provides 100% Limnio. The characteristic resistance of the variety to lack of water and dry heat conditions, makes the cultivation of the variety ideal in Lemnos.