Under the “motherly” shadow of Agrafa, with the low altitude and fertile soil, the vines grow peacefully without great temperature variations. The “aura” of the Plastiras Lake – which rapidly improved the micro-climate of the area since 1959 when it was created – “refreshed” the vines, caters for them, bringing out in a unique manner the characteristics of local wine varieties. Four generations devoted to wine-making have laid the foundations for the future, a future that finds Domaine Messenicolas by Giorgos Karamitrou, a 4th generation winemaker, at the springboard for innovation and international recognition of his wines, local varieties and Messenicola of Karditsa. Chestnut tress and oak tress colour the scenery. The “Sleeping Beauty of Agrafa” – the legendary female form that, if you close your eyes a bit, is outlined on the Agrafa Mountains – casts her shadow on the valley, on the small villages that are enclosed by her stone embrace. People nurtured by sky and earth, by mornings humid with rain and noons heated by the sun. In this stone embrace lies Messenicolas, a small village with long history, or just a fascinating fairytale! A fairytale starting with Monsieur Nicolas, a noble Franc who came to the region in 1455, after the dissolution of his Battalion, and enchanted by the scenery, he started his new life. This man brought with him his knowledge and love of wine. It is his passion and love that lead him to the systematic development of viticulture in the area and create the famous “Black Messenicolas” variety, a unique variety, which although existing since antiquity, took its name from this man, as a minimum gesture of recognition for his contribution.

It is the era of the Ottoman domination and the Greek population is constantly moving in search of better living conditions. Among them is the Karamitros family, which leaves Evritania to settle under the massiveness of Agrafa Mountains, in the small village of Mesenikolas. In this village, they set new roots in order to develop the art of viticulture, an occupation that became the life and history of this family. After the liberation of Greece, Giannis Karamitros starts to trade the fruits of his vineyards turning the grapes, must, wine and tsipouro into wheat and corn, products necessary for survival. During the Balkan Wars, the grandfather of Giorgos Karamitros was fighting for the liberation of Thessaly. After the war, in 1913, he retuned to Mesenicola, so that he could undertake the cultivation of vineyards and the art of wine making, continuing the story in place of his father. By the end of the Second World War, the Karamitros family tried to regroup its forces. In these hard times – experience by the entire Greece – the only thing left to do was to dream about the future. 1959 was perhaps one of the most significant years in the history of Messenicolas and the wider area. It as the year that the creation of the artificial lake of Plastira, the vision of General Nikolaos Plastiras, was completed and gave a beneficial effect on the microclimate of the region, since this “aquatic giant” brought a “new breath of air” in the area, creating the ideal conditions for viticulture! The torch of the family history was passed to Giannis Karamitros (Junior) around 1960, when he decided to hold the business in his own way. With new ideas, born by his good intuition of the market needs, he preceded to the acquisition of new vineyards, the replacement of old vines with new, and the testing of new varieties. The decades of 1970 and 1980 marked two important decades of Giannis and his wife, Giannoula, lives since the wine and tsipouro they produced had a great success with wine-lovers, both locally and beyond the boundaries of the region. In 1990, Giannis and Giannoula Karamitrou signed over the business to their son, Giorgos Karamitros, although they did not retire. They remained alive in the business, from dawn to dusk on a daily basis, in order to check the must, to supervise fermentation, to pass their knowledge and to get continuous information by Giorgos Karamitros on the developments of the industry and anything new he has to share from his travelling around the world, proving that the Art of Wine is indeed the Art of Life.

If history is to continue, it must take steps forward. It must create new traditions! This is exactly what winemaker Giorgos Karamitros does. Grown in Messenicolas, having experienced the art of wine making and now being “mature”, he uses his childhood memories as a springboard for creativity in order to make his dream come true: Make his own modern Winery! In 2000, Giorgos Karamitros established this winery in an effort to leave his own touch in the family history, where modernisation respects tradition, the personality of the winemaker and the special characteristics of the area. With fresh ideas and inexhaustible passion for perfection, he created the only modern, vertically integrated Winery in the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) zone, in Messenicolas, of the Municipality of Plastiras, with a capacity of 400,000 bottles per year. The Winery has 0.07 km2 of privately owned vineyards and co-operates with approximately 100 producers of the area. The technological equipment was carefully selected and complies with all necessary specifications while all tanks are stainless, winemaking equipment of temperature-controlled fermentation. The first Messenicolas VDQS bottles were launched in the market in February 2000. Since then, Giorgos Karamitros has created 9 more labels, won dozens of quality awards in national and international competitions, penetrated foreign markets and continues in his work, realising the family dream: to make Messenicolas, the local varieties, and particularly the “Black Messenicolas” variety, famous in Greece and the world. Domaine Messenicolas is certified with the Food Safety Management System ISO 22000.

A multi-dimensional story unfolds in front of your eyes. It tells you of stories of the past past, and stories of the present, stories that are written in order to be read in the future. Hundreds of bottles of fresh and aged wine, collectors’ labels, tsipouro of limited production and special ageing. Jars with the local home-made dessert Retzeli, made of pumpkin grown in the farm, boiled in must by the Karamitros family, and of course petimezi (grape syrup), a pure and valuable good, made from each years production. An espresso or Greek coffee with petimezi instead of sugar, music nights that make friends come together accompanied from the wine and the good music. All these in a place created with the personal touch of Giorgos Karamitros is open to the public, almost all day and night long. Giorgos Karamitros and his assistants are always there to share their knowledge with you and advise you on the varieties and food pairings. To share with you the secrets of the art of fine wine.