HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The company I. Boutaris & Son SA, founded by Ioannis Boutaris in 1879, launched its career with a wine so successful that it was to become a legend in the history of Greek wine: Naoussa Boutari - a bottled Greek red wine, one of the first of its kind at that time on the Greek market and a remarkably bold undertaking.

In 1906 the company acquired its first winery and cellars, at 35 Zafeiraki St. These premises have been restored and declared a listed building.

In the late 1960's his two sons, Yannis and Konstantinos Boutaris, took over the reins, building on the achievements of their father and grandfather to expand and develop the company even further. This was the time when the Naoussa vineyards were menaced by the disease phylloxera. Determined to treat the danger as a challenge, the two brothers decided that the company should embark on the cultivation of its own vines - a great turning point in the company's history, second only to the original decision to bottle the Boutaris wines.

The year 1967 saw the opening of the Boutaris Winery at Stenimachos, Naoussa, still the heart of the company's wine production. It was around this time, too, that the necessary framework was put in place for the production of Greek VDQS wines.

The Boutaris company was the first to establish vineyards dedicated to the production of Vins De Qualité Supérieure, paying particular attention to the cultivation of Greek varieties of grape. Thus the company's viticultural activities extended to Goumenissa, Santorini, Paros, Nemea, Crete and Mantineia. At the same time it established the first wineries at the site of its own vineyards in selected vine-growing areas of Greece.

The Boutaris wineries are all provided with the latest in winemaking equipment. They play an active part not just in the viticultural life of their region, but also in its social, economic and cultural developmente Boutaris company was the first to encourage the involvement of the general public in guided tours of the wineries, allowing visitors to watch the wine-making process, to see the cellars and vineyards.

During the 1980's the Research and Development arm of the company eagerly followed international developments in the field, experimenting with the cultivation of foreign varieties of grape and producing limited editions of the new series known as Peiramatika Boutari - experimental wines.

This initiative was warmly received by the consumer and led to the production in larger quantities of the more successful of the experimental series of wines. These, known as the Poikiliaka, are a superb combination of Greek and foreign varieties of grape. Meanwhile, the company's investment in new wineries, vineyards and oenological research had established the necessary infrastructure and the company was ready to market wines from its own vines - the range known as Ktimata Boutari - the Boutaris Estates.

Today the Boutaris Winery is fully integrated into the Boutaris Group (a holding company listed on the Athens Stock Exchange). Following the departure of Yannis Boutaris, it is managed by Konstantinos Boutaris, Chairman of the company and of the Boutaris Group. Since 1995 the fifth generation of the family has taken its place in the business. Marina Boutari, daughter of Konstantinos is now playing an energetic role in the company as Director of Corporate Communication.