Domaine Tselepos

Yiannis Tselepos was born in 1955 in Pafos on the island of Cyprus and studied oenology at the University of Dijon in France, where he completed his degree in 1978. After his Dijon training, he relocated to Arcadia in the Peloponnese in 1981, working initially as a consultant oenologist for several local wine projects and beginning his lifelong commitment to the Moschofilero variety that would come to define the modern Mantinia identity. Together with his wife Amalia, Yiannis formally established Domaine Tselepos in 1989 outside the village of Rizes at the foothills of Mount Parnon in Arcadia, releasing the first Mantinia PDO label under the family name in 1990. The project sits at the centre of what is widely identified as the Greek Wine Renaissance: the late-twentieth-century revival of Greek indigenous-variety winemaking led by a small cluster of Dijon-trained, Bordeaux-trained, and Athens-trained oenologists who returned to their home regions and built the modern Greek fine-wine identity from family and consultant projects through the 1980s and 1990s. The Amalia partnership has remained the project's central organising relationship from the founding through the present day.

• Yiannis Tselepos born 1955 in Pafos, Cyprus; oenology degree from University of Dijon completed 1978.
• Relocated to Arcadia in 1981 as consultant oenologist before founding Domaine Tselepos with wife Amalia in 1989.
• First Mantinia PDO label released 1990 outside the village of Rizes at the foothills of Mount Parnon.
• The project sits at the centre of the Greek Wine Renaissance, the late-twentieth-century indigenous-variety revival led by Dijon-trained Greek oenologists.
• The Amalia partnership has remained the central organising relationship from the 1989 founding through the present day.

The estate sits on the southeastern end of the Mantinian plateau at the foothills of Mount Parnon in Arcadia, very close to the archaeological site of Ancient Tegea. Vineyards extend across 45 hectares at 750 metres of elevation on a continental microclimate that delivers cold winters with significant snowfall and cool summers tempered by pronounced diurnal temperature variation. Soils are predominantly poor clay-and-rocky terrain with red clay, limestone, and schist contributions across the various estate parcels; fertility is naturally low, which restricts vine vigour and concentrates flavour in the berries. The combination of high elevation, continental cold, and low-fertility soils preserves Moschofilero's pink-skinned aromatic intensity and high natural acidity into harvest, the structural underpinning that makes the variety capable of producing the floral-aromatic blanc de gris white wines for which the appellation is known. The estate also draws fruit from approximately 20 hectares of cooperating-grower vineyards across the broader Mantinia plateau, supplementing estate production with carefully selected partner sourcing under estate-controlled oenological direction.

• 45 hectares of privately owned vineyards at 750 metres elevation on the foothills of Mount Parnon, southeastern end of the Mantinian plateau.
• Continental microclimate: cold snowy winters and cool summers tempered by pronounced diurnal temperature variation that preserves Moschofilero's natural acidity into harvest.
• Soils: poor clay-and-rocky terrain with red clay, limestone, and schist contributions; low fertility restricts vine vigour and concentrates flavour.
• Additional 20 hectares of cooperating-grower fruit supplements estate production under estate-controlled oenological direction.
• Estate sits very close to the archaeological site of Ancient Tegea, anchoring the project within the deeper cultural landscape of the Arcadian Peloponnese.

Moschofilero is the central grape of the project and the variety with which Yiannis Tselepos is most closely associated. The pink-skinned berry produces a blanc de gris white wine under the PDO Mantinia designation (the appellation requires Moschofilero to comprise at least 85 percent of the blend, with Asproudes the permitted co-variety), with floral, aromatic, fresh styles that contrast sharply with the heavier white-wine register of warmer Greek regions. Yiannis is widely credited with rescuing Moschofilero from blending obscurity during the 1970s and 1980s through pioneering mono-varietal bottlings, shifting the variety from a blending component used in larger-scale commercial wine production to a stand-alone varietal capable of expressing terroir-specific character at altitude. The Tselepos Mantinia Moschofilero remains the variety's reference commercial bottling and the most widely-distributed introduction to the appellation's voice. Beyond the Mantinia PDO range, the estate cultivates Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot under the broader Peloponnese PGI for international-varietal expressions and for the Amalia sparkling programme.

• Moschofilero is the central grape; the pink-skinned berry produces blanc de gris white wines under the PDO Mantinia designation requiring at least 85 percent Moschofilero.
• Yiannis Tselepos widely credited with rescuing Moschofilero from blending obscurity through pioneering mono-varietal bottlings during the 1970s and 1980s.
• PDO Mantinia ratified 1971 alongside parallel ratifications of Naoussa, Nemea, and Santorini under Greek legislative decree 243/1969; sparkling wines added to the PDO in October 2012.
• Beyond Moschofilero, estate cultivates Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot under broader Peloponnese PGI for international-varietal expressions.
• The Tselepos Mantinia Moschofilero remains the variety's reference commercial bottling and the most widely distributed introduction to the appellation.

The cuvée architecture organises around the Mantinia PDO Moschofilero core, the Amalia sparkling programme, and the cellar's cross-region Agiorgitiko and Assyrtiko ranges. The Mantinia Moschofilero anchors the entry tier as a mono-varietal blanc de gris with floral lift and crisp acidity; the Mantinia Moschofilero Old Vines extends the variety into a more concentrated, oak-influenced register; the Amalia Brut and Amalia Vintage sparkling wines, made by méthode traditionnelle from Moschofilero, place Tselepos among Greece's first serious sparkling-wine producers and remain the most widely distributed Greek sparkling Moschofilero examples. Beyond Mantinia, Yiannis expanded the project through Ktima Driopi in Nemea in 2003, working old-vine Agiorgitiko on classified Nemea vineyards to produce the Driopi Reserve and Driopi Private Collection bottlings that helped recalibrate premium Nemea quality during the late 2000s and 2010s; the Canava Chrissou Santorini operation, established in 2014, extends the project into the volcanic-Assyrtiko register through ungrafted-vineyard fruit on the central volcanic plateau. Annual production sits at approximately 450,000 bottles across the full multi-region range.

• Mantinia Moschofilero (PDO) anchors the entry tier as mono-varietal blanc de gris with floral lift and crisp acidity from 750-metre Mantinian altitude.
• Amalia Brut and Amalia Vintage sparkling Moschofilero by méthode traditionnelle; Tselepos among Greece's first serious sparkling-wine producers.
• Ktima Driopi in Nemea (founded 2003) works classified-vineyard Agiorgitiko; Driopi Reserve and Private Collection helped recalibrate premium Nemea quality.
• Canava Chrissou in Santorini (founded 2014) extends the project into the volcanic-Assyrtiko register through ungrafted-vineyard Santorinian fruit.
• Annual production approximately 450,000 bottles across the full multi-region range of Mantinia, Nemea, and Santorini operations.

Domaine Tselepos sits at the centre of the modern Mantinia fine-wine identity, with Yiannis Tselepos's pioneering mono-varietal Moschofilero work positioning the estate as the appellation's central voice in the international trade. International reception has been steady through the late 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s as the broader Greek Wine Renaissance brought indigenous-variety winemaking into wider trade visibility. The estate distributes approximately 40 percent of its annual production internationally to the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Cyprus, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, with the Mantinia Moschofilero serving as the most widely-distributed introduction to the appellation. Beyond the export footprint, Tselepos's role in establishing PDO Mantinia as a serious fine-wine appellation has positioned the project alongside Domaine Spiropoulos (the Mantinian organic neighbour founded 1860 and certified organic since 1994) within the appellation's central producer cluster. The cellar's reference position is consolidated by the multi-region Driopi-and-Chrissou expansion, which positions the Tselepos family at the centre of three of the most internationally significant Greek wine appellations through the parallel Mantinia, Nemea, and Santorini operations.

• Domaine Tselepos sits at the centre of the modern Mantinia fine-wine identity with Yiannis Tselepos's pioneering mono-varietal Moschofilero work.
• Approximately 40 percent of annual production exported to the United States, Canada, China, Germany, Cyprus, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
• The Mantinia Moschofilero serves as the most widely-distributed international introduction to the appellation's voice and the variety's character.
• Sits alongside Domaine Spiropoulos (1860, certified organic since 1994) within the central Mantinia producer cluster anchoring the appellation's modern identity.
• The Driopi-and-Chrissou expansion positions the Tselepos family at the centre of three of the most internationally significant Greek wine appellations.