The Metsovo Monastery Where Monks Make Wine Beside a 1782 Barrel
by Bill Giannopoulos · Greek City TimesA few minutes’ drive from the village square, the Metsovo monastery of Agios Nikolaos hides a monks’ winery and a vast wooden barrel from 1782.
The road descends through beech, oak and black pine forest. At 920 metres, the Metsovitikos river runs through the gorge below.
Built of stone, the Metsovo monastery has cobbled courtyards and low entrances with heavy wooden doors. Since 2017, its monks have also run the Imperator winery, with vines reaching 1,050 metres.
Eight centuries at the Metsovo monastery
The first written record of Agios Nikolaos appears in a 13th-century imperial chrysobull. During Ottoman rule, it had a large brotherhood and supplied food and wine to the Greek school of Metsovo, which was based in the cells of Agia Paraskevi.
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Nikolaos Basdanis, a muleteer who carried timber, lived at the Metsovo monastery for a while. Martyred in Trikala in 1659, he is honoured as Saint Nicholas of Metsovo. Later, in 1800, a chapel rose there in his memory.
Inside, the frescoes date from around 1700 and are attributed to the icon painter Efstathios. The gilded, carved wooden iconostasis also incorporates pieces of older structures.
A rare fresco and a long restoration
On the church’s outer wall at Agios Nikolaos, a painting shows the Panagia Galaktotrofousa, the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Christ. This subject appears only rarely among the monuments of Epirus.
During the 1912 battles to liberate Metsovo, Cretan volunteers led by Stylianos Kleidis and Emmanouil Balantinos fought around the Metsovo monastery. Half a century later, however, it stood abandoned and close to collapse.
In 1960, the Baron Michael Tositsas Foundation restored it on the initiative of Evangelos Averoff-Tositsas, under a 50-year loan. When that arrangement ended, the Metsovo monastery returned to the Church. Since 2017, it has been a dependency of the Votsa Monastery in Eastern Zagori.
Imperator and the 1782 barrel
The Imperator name comes from Votsa. According to tradition, Emperor Constantine IV Pogonatos founded that monastery in 672, on the royal road linking Epirus with Constantinople.
Still, wine flowed at the Metsovo monastery long before 2017. Down in an untouched stone cellar sits a handmade wooden barrel from 1782 that holds 12,000 okades, roughly 15 tonnes.
According to the monks, it is one of the largest and oldest surviving barrels. Written records also show that Agios Nikolaos stored and sold wine from at least 1795.
Today, French oak barrels line up beside the old giant, where the Imperator reds mature. The cellar keeps a steady humidity and temperature naturally.
Why the monks call winemaking a service
Father Spyridon runs the work with Father Efraim and the brotherhood. They call it a diakonima, any task a monk takes on for the community.
“For us, the vineyard is a diakonima, like the kitchen or the guest quarters. We do it so that the monastery has something to offer whoever comes through its door,” Father Spyridon said.
The vines of the Metsovo monastery cover about 100 stremmata, split between Metsovo and Eastern Zagori. At 900 to 1,050 metres, they rank among the highest in Greece, and the Zagori plots lie within a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Because the slopes are steep and rocky, pruning and harvesting happen by hand. The farming is organic, while bears and wild boar visit from the forest.
Six Imperator labels with Vlach names
A new tasting room beside the Metsovo monastery uses dressed stone and timber beams. It has a central fireplace and large windows over the gorge.
The wines carry the PGI Metsovo label, and their names are Vlach words or Pindus place names. Imperator Lacrima, meaning ‘tear’, is a Gewürztraminer scented with lychee and rose. It keeps an acidity the variety rarely shows in warmer places, since the grapes ripen slowly and the nights are cold.
Fagu Scriptu is a Chardonnay rested on its lees, with citrus and green apple. By comparison, Rubini is a rosé from Vlahiko, the red grape of Epirus, with cherry and pomegranate aromas.
Among the reds, Tsuka Rossia is a Cabernet Sauvignon with a short spell in barrel. Valia Calda, a Cabernet–Merlot blend, spends 12 months in the cellar and smells of black fruit and cedar.
Local cheeses arrive with the Imperator glasses. Smoked Metsovone and aged Rezzana suit Valia Calda, while Metsovella and graviera pair with Rubini.
The grape the monks rescued
A sixth Imperator label, Vlahavona, never appears in the tasting. This white Metsovo variety had almost disappeared until the monks found vines in courtyards and abandoned vineyards and propagated them. Today, they make around 150 bottles a year.
Planning a visit to the Metsovo monastery
From the village, a paved road reaches the car park at Agios Nikolaos. Walkers can also take the old cobbled forest path, part of the Ursa Trail.
Visits to the Metsovo monastery are by appointment only, via the booking form on the Imperator website, email or phone. Before the tasting, a guided tour covers the katholikon, or main church, and the cellar.
A small tasting offers three glasses, and a larger one pours five. Both include local cheeses and charcuterie, and the winery quotes prices on booking.
Finally, visitors can combine the trip with the Tositsa Mansion and the Averoff Gallery back in the village.
Source: travel.gr
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