Dalamara

The Dalamara family has worked vineyards in Naoussa since 1840, when Ioannis Georgiou Dalamaras planted the first family vineyard near the town of Naoussa and established the multi-generational family operation that produces both wine and tsipouro (the traditional Macedonian distilled spirit). The original purchase contract for the 1840 plot remains preserved by the family today, and the Dalamara name has been part of the Naoussa Xinomavro story across six generations of continuous grape-growing and winemaking since the mid-nineteenth century. The family was instrumental alongside Boutari and other historical Naoussa families in the long campaign that established Naoussa as Greece's first formally recognized wine PDO in 1971, providing the kind of multi-generational continuity and traditional grape-growing knowledge that anchored the appellation's case for formal status. Kostis Dalamaras, the sixth generation in the family, took over the estate around 2009 after a focused European training arc: oenology studies in Beaune, harvest work in Gevrey-Chambertin (Burgundy), Alsace, Roussillon, and Catalonia, and the kind of close engagement with European fine-wine practice that has shaped the modern reorientation of the project. Since taking over Kostis has driven the estate's transition from a more traditional family supplier-and-cooperative arrangement to a focused single-vineyard fine-wine project anchored on the Paliokalias site, with the first single-vineyard organic Paliokalias bottling released as the 2009 vintage.

• Founded 1840 by Ioannis Georgiou Dalamaras with the family's first Naoussa vineyard; the original 1840 purchase contract remains preserved by the family today.
• The Dalamara name was instrumental alongside Boutari and other Naoussa families in establishing the appellation that became Greece's first formally recognized wine PDO in 1971.
• Kostis Dalamaras (sixth generation) took over the estate around 2009 after oenology studies in Beaune and harvest work in Gevrey-Chambertin, Alsace, Roussillon, and Catalonia.
• Kostis has driven the project's transition to a focused single-vineyard fine-wine project anchored on Paliokalias; first single-vineyard organic Paliokalias bottling released as the 2009 vintage.

Paliokalias (Greek for 'Old Watch Point') is the six-hectare Xinomavro vineyard that anchors the modern Dalamara project, located 2.5 miles southeast of the town of Naoussa at 250 to 300 metres of elevation on a mix of soils that produces the kind of differentiated old-vine character the estate is known for. The vineyard works a meaningful range of vine ages: some blocks include vines nearly 90 years old, providing the deep-rooted concentration and savoury complexity that defines old-vine Xinomavro at altitude on the Vermio-adjacent slopes, while younger plantings extend the productive surface across the six-hectare site. The Paliokalias position 2.5 miles southeast of Naoussa town places it on the eastern edge of the appellation's traditional vineyard surface, with the protected continental climate of the Naoussa basin and the moderating cool fohn winds from the Aegean coast that travel up the Aliakmon valley from the southeast. The vineyard's name ('Old Watch Point') refers to a historical observation post on the higher ground that gave the parcel its identity in the local Naoussa toponymy long before the modern fine-wine project rebranded it as the estate's anchor site. The Paliokalias single-vineyard wine is the project's most distinctive expression: a 100 percent Xinomavro from the named site that reads with the concentrated savoury fruit, the saline-mineral underpinning, and the brisk acid-and-tannin spine that defines old-vine Xinomavro from the Naoussa eastern flank.

• Paliokalias ('Old Watch Point') is the six-hectare Xinomavro vineyard 2.5 miles southeast of Naoussa town at 250 to 300 metres of elevation on mixed soils.
• The vineyard works a meaningful range of vine ages: some blocks include vines nearly 90 years old; younger plantings extend the productive surface across the six-hectare site.
• Position 2.5 miles southeast of Naoussa town places Paliokalias on the eastern edge of the appellation, with the moderating cool fohn winds from the Aegean coast.
• The vineyard name refers to a historical observation post on the higher ground that gave the parcel its identity in the local Naoussa toponymy.

Farming at Dalamara has been certified organic by BioHellas since 1996, making the estate one of the earliest formally certified organic operations in Naoussa, well before organic certification became more common in Greek viticulture. The estate moved further into biodynamic-leaning practice from 2008, working the substantive biodynamic discipline of integrated-farming and self-sufficient cellar approach without pursuing formal certification. The self-sufficient ethos extends through the estate's broader operational footprint: Kostis produces the estate's own fertilizer on the farm rather than buying in commercial inputs, and the winery is powered by solar energy that meets the project's energy needs from the farm itself. Cellar work runs the same disciplined approach: native-yeast fermentations using only the indigenous Paliokalias and estate yeasts, minimal sulfur additions through the vinification cycle, and no fining or filtration through bottling. The cellar philosophy is to let time do what shortcuts cannot, allowing the wines to settle naturally and the Paliokalias single-vineyard character to read directly into the bottle without intervention. The combined viticultural and cellar discipline has positioned Dalamara as one of the leading new-generation artisan voices in Naoussa, distinct from the traditional commercial register that Boutari established and the modern-fine-wine register that Kir-Yianni and Domaine Thymiopoulos developed in subsequent decades.

• Certified organic by BioHellas since 1996, one of the earliest formally certified organic operations in Naoussa, well before organic certification became more common in Greek viticulture.
• Biodynamic-leaning practice since 2008 (no formal certification); self-sufficient ethos with farm-produced fertilizer and solar-powered winery operations meeting the project's energy needs.
• Cellar work: native-yeast fermentations using indigenous Paliokalias and estate yeasts, minimal sulfur additions through vinification, and no fining or filtration through bottling.
• Disciplined approach positions Dalamara as a leading new-generation artisan voice in Naoussa, distinct from the traditional Boutari register and the modern-fine-wine Kir-Yianni and Thymiopoulos registers.

The Dalamara cuvée portfolio is built around two principal Xinomavro expressions: the village-tier Naoussa Dalamara that draws from across the estate parcels and the single-vineyard Paliokalias that comes exclusively from the eponymous old-vine site. Naoussa Dalamara is the project's accessible entry to the Dalamara voice: 100 percent Xinomavro from across the estate vineyards (including Paliokalias and adjacent parcels), vinified through native-yeast fermentation with minimal sulfur and no fining or filtration, and aged in older oak barrels that allow the savoury fruit-and-mineral character to read clearly without being overwhelmed by new-oak spice. The wine reads with the project's signature combination of bright sour cherry, dried tomato, dried oregano, and the saline-mineral underpinning that defines the Dalamara house style. Paliokalias is the single-vineyard apex: 100 percent Xinomavro from the 6-hectare Paliokalias vineyard with the variable vine age (including blocks nearly 90 years old) that the site is known for, vinified to the same disciplined cellar approach as the Naoussa Dalamara but with a longer aging arc and a more concentrated savoury profile. Jancis Robinson and other international critics have recognized the Paliokalias as one of the leading expressions of old-vine Naoussa Xinomavro from the new artisan generation, with the wine's pale colour, intense black-tea-and-bramble aromatic profile, concentrated yet never intrusive tannin grip, and the kind of complexity that rewards 5 to 15 years of cellar time. The cuvée structure is deliberately simple: two Xinomavro expressions that read as the village-tier and single-vineyard poles of a focused fine-wine project.

• Naoussa Dalamara: village-tier 100 percent Xinomavro from across the estate parcels (including Paliokalias and adjacent), aged in older oak; the project's accessible entry to the Dalamara voice.
• Paliokalias: single-vineyard apex 100 percent Xinomavro from the 6-hectare eponymous site with variable vine age including blocks nearly 90 years old; longer aging arc and concentrated profile.
• Jancis Robinson and other international critics recognize Paliokalias as one of the leading expressions of old-vine Naoussa Xinomavro from the new artisan generation.
• Both wines vinified the same disciplined approach: native-yeast fermentation, minimal sulfur, no fining or filtration; aged in older oak with no new-oak overlay.

Kostis Dalamaras has steered the project into the international fine-wine register since taking over around 2009, building distribution relationships with VOS Selections and AOC Selections in the United States, The Wine Society in the United Kingdom, and a network of European importers that have brought the Paliokalias single-vineyard wine into international wine-merchant channels alongside the broader Naoussa cluster's leading new-wave producers. The Dalamara identity reads as a third pole of the modern Naoussa cluster alongside Kir-Yianni's modern industrial-scale leadership and Domaine Thymiopoulos's biodynamic new-wave register: where Kir-Yianni works the appellation at scale and Thymiopoulos works the new-wave biodynamic register from the Trilofos-Fytia parcels, Dalamara works the artisan single-vineyard register from a single 6-hectare site with deep multi-generational continuity. The Dalamara project's six-generation continuity since 1840 (matched only by Markovitis from 1860 and Boutari from 1879 within the Naoussa cluster) provides the kind of historical anchor that distinguishes the project from the post-1990s new-wave estates while positioning it firmly in the modern artisan-natural register through Kostis's organic, biodynamic-leaning, native-yeast, low-sulfur cellar discipline. International press coverage has steadily grown through the 2010s and 2020s, with Jancis Robinson's coverage and the steady inclusion in international wine-merchant lists positioning Dalamara as one of the most-cited new-generation artisan voices in Greek wine internationally. Imported in the United States by VOS Selections and AOC Selections; UK distribution via The Wine Society; European distribution across multiple specialist importers.

• Kostis Dalamaras has steered the project into the international fine-wine register since around 2009, building distribution with VOS Selections and AOC Selections (US) and The Wine Society (UK).
• Dalamara is a third pole of the modern Naoussa cluster alongside Kir-Yianni's industrial-scale leadership and Domaine Thymiopoulos's biodynamic new-wave register; the artisan single-vineyard voice.
• Six-generation continuity since 1840 (matched only by Markovitis 1860 and Boutari 1879 within the Naoussa cluster) provides the project's deep historical anchor.
• Jancis Robinson coverage and the steady inclusion in international wine-merchant lists position Dalamara as one of the most-cited new-generation artisan voices in Greek wine internationally.