Wineries and vineyards for sale in the Ionian Sea islands

LOCATION AND HISTORY

They are a group of islands off the west coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea. The Ionian tribe, from the northern Balkans, who later became the most advanced tribe of the Greeks, achieving great prosperity and cultural flourishing in poetry with Homer and in architecture with the Ionian style, were expelled by the Dorian tribe from the Greek mainland (ancient Attica, now Central Greece) by war, the expelled Ionians thus colonised in the 9th century BC the western Greek islands, hence their names (Cephalonia, Corfu, Zakynthos, Ithaca). For four centuries from 1386 to 1797, the islands were ruled by the city-state of Venice.

The Ionian Islands are the closest Greek islands to the Italian coast and this proximity is not only geographical but also cultural. The Venetians have left obvious traces in the architecture. In total, the Ionian Islands are seven in number. The most famous is Corfu.

TYPES OF GRAPES

The native grape varieties are varied, Agiomavritiko, Areti, Asprouda, Avgoustiatis, Goustolidi, Katsakoulias, Korinthiaki, Pavlos (white Malvasia), Robola, Skiadopoulo and Theiako Mavro.

Vineyards can be found in Ithaca where Odysseus was king, Kefalonia with its POP, Corfu, Lefkada, Cythera, Paxos and Zakynthos. The vineyards cover a total of 8,700 ha.

The mild climate of the islands is very favourable for viticulture and there is sufficient rainfall.