📍 Halkidiki

Halkidiki is a peninsula in northern Greece, in Macedonia, that reaches into the Aegean Sea with three “fingers”: Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos. Its centre is the town of Polygyros. Mountains, pine forests and sandy beaches make the peninsula one of the favourite resorts of Greece. The climate is warm Mediterranean, mild on the coast and cooler in the mountains.

Halkidiki has several wine zones. The two best known are Sithonia and the Slopes of Meliton. The second is named after Mount Meliton on Sithonia, where in the 1960s the Carras family founded the Porto Carras winery and planted large vineyards. International grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon began to be grown here, along with local ones.

White wines are made from Assyrtiko, Malagousia and other grapes. Among reds there is Limnio, one of the oldest Greek varieties. Local and international vines are often blended. Monks on Mount Athos have made wine since ancient times, and Athonite wines are also sold today.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the north lie Thessaloniki and the zones of Imathia with Xinomavro, to the south-west Thessaly, and to the east the Gulf of Orfano and the island of Thasos.