Center of experience of wine will be for three days, from today to next Saturday, Central Macedonia which hosts fifteen countries, from Lebanon, Cyprus and Croatia to Portugal and France, at the annual General Assembly of the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe “Iter Vitis”.

The purpose of the event is to convey the example of the wine culture, as, as the President of the European Iter Vitis Federation Emanuela Panke pointed out today in a press conference, “even if the first domestication of the vine took place in the Caucasus, it is Greece that created the culture of wine with banquets and the relationship of wine with theater and poetry”.

The Council of Europe cultural route for wine and vine, “Iter Vitis”, was recognized by the Council of Europe on 15 May 2009, following a proposal by the European Federation of the same name. The Culture of the vine and wine, after all, as well as the wine landscape are considered an important cultural heritage, material and immaterial, and as such constitutes an essential parameter of the collective history of a place.

Mrs. Panke underlined the value that wine has to give cultural identity to a region, while she emphasized that the Council of Europe is something broader than the European Union, since it includes cultures and themes such as the Phoenicians, Napoleon, the impressionists. “Since 2007, the aim has been to create a program that gives wine the cultural value it brings, not only as a commercial product but as a cultural product,” he said, while making special reference to Yiannis Boutaris, who was one of the first participants in the program on the topic of wine as culture and an element of cultural tourism.

The participants in the press conference were welcomed by the Vice-Regional Governor for Tourism of the Central Macedonia Region, Vicky Hatzivasileiou, who conveyed the greetings of Regional Governor Athena Aidonas. In it, the Regional Governor characterized Central Macedonia as a blessed place, if one considers the range of agricultural products, the first place in the increase of export agricultural products of the region and the wide variety of fine wines. He also referred to the tradition of Naoussa in winemaking and the participation of the Region, the municipality and all the agencies and members in a network, a cultural route with wine as a common connecting link.

Ms. Hatzivasileiou pointed out that this year’s work of the general assembly focuses on sustainability, sustainability, innovation and social inclusion, values ​​that express the wine philosophy. He spoke about Macedonia’s unique wine stock in Europe, the two hundred active wineries where the visitor can live unique tasting and hospitality experiences and emphasized: “For us, wine is not just a product, it is culture, history and identity. The memory of taste and smell are the strongest memories there are. When we create such memorable experiences for tourists it gives us a competitive advantage.”

For her part, the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kastoria, Andromachi Skrekas, conveyed the greetings of the Head of the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Culture, Marianthis Anastasiadou, who underlined that “the culture of the vine and wine is an extremely important part of European culture, the beginnings of which go back to the ancient Mediterranean world, with the contribution of Greeks to be fundamental.

The Dionysian practice of the symposium, with wide economic, social and religious ramifications, was one of the most characteristic and distinguishing features of Greek culture which, through trade and colonization, was widely spread and established”.

Besides, Anastasia Gadolou, General Director of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, noted that the museum became a member of the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe “Iter Vitis” from September 2023, while she emphasized that the consumption of wine in antiquity was not only for pleasure but was a way of social cohesion. “All the findings from Central Macedonia and the Macedonian tombs support this cultural dimension of wine consumption. I should also mention the famous rural wine production facilities in our neighbor Pieria and the famous place of Komboloi. Since the excavation that took place there, the Museum houses and exhibits a huge wine storage tank at its entrance,” he added.

Finally, the Director of the Union of Winemakers of Northern Greece, Alexandra Anthidou, referred to the network of wine roads of northern Greece that was created in 1996. In particular, she said that the beginning of progress was made by a group of enlightened people led by Giannis Boutaris, who together with Dino Stergidis owns the exhibition Oinorama and Christos Karras, son of Giannis Karras and owner of the same name winery of Porto Karras, worked to create the wine road network that includes eight wine routes in northern Greece and Epirus with 38 wineries today open to the public.

“The tourist becomes part of the creation of the wines, because he moves around the vines, he can touch the leaves, he can see the growth of the vine during the year which differs from season to season. All this together with the aromas of nature, of the oak of the barrels in the aging areas become one and penetrate the memory to meet them again in the glass that he will try at home, in the winery, somewhere else, with friends and company”, he added.

The organization of the annual General Assembly of the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe “Iter Vitis” is under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and is carried out in collaboration with the Municipality of the Heroic City of Naoussa, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the Union of Winemakers of Northern Greece.