Field notes № 05 · Attica, Greece

Our first visit to Costa Lazaridi.

Oenotria Land, Kapandriti & a stop at Marathon

From Yanni & Denise · As told by Denise

We’ve carried their wines for 25 years. We’ve been trying to visit for years, too. This time, we finally made it.

A couple behind a stone table with an Amethystos bottle, surrounded by wine racks beneath brick arches — A familiar label in the cellar at Costa Lazaridi.

A long-awaited hello

Before the
first glass.

Natalia welcomed us to Oenotria Land, the Costa Lazaridi estate in Kapandriti, Attica. She showed us around and guided our tasting, along with Christos Fotiadis, the facilities manager.

We started in the museum, with replicas of ancient vessels, displays of how grapes were prepared, and the estate’s history. The story began in Drama, in northern Greece. During our visit, we also heard about plans for another winery on Paros.

There was a grape-treading basin, a kazani for distillation, and all sorts of tools. You could follow the work from the grapes to the barrel.

A pale grape-treading basin with a drainage channel and collection opening, surrounded by pottery vessels — A museum display showing how grapes were trodden by foot.

A metal distillation still with a tall column, connecting pipes and three bottles on a wooden display table — The kazani, part of the museum’s explanation of distillation.

Painted wine bottles decorated with landscapes and colorful scenes resting in wooden racks — Amethystos bottles turned into small canvases.

Even the bottles gave us a reason to linger. Amethystos wines and the spirits had their own artwork, and some bottles were painted from top to bottom.

A 12-second look through the corkscrew collection.

A collector’s eye

Remind you
of anyone?

Then we reached the corkscrews. There seemed to be more than a thousand of them, in every shape imaginable. Those of you who know Yanni will understand why this part of the tour felt familiar.

Inside the private cellar

A few bottles
caught Yanni’s eye.

The cellar brought more temptation. We were shown Mr. Lazaridis’s private collection, where he chooses a bottle to enjoy now and again. Yanni was already thinking about how he could get some of those wines into his own collection.

Among them was a 2003 Cava Amethystos. A familiar name, in very good company.

A man standing behind a stone table in a vaulted cellar lined with wine bottles — Plenty of temptation in the private cellar.

At the tasting table

Starting with
Malagouzia.

We worked our way through a few whites before moving on to the reds. We kept the tasting to a few wines, with the drive back to Athens still ahead of us, and enjoyed every one.

Alongside them came a board of cheeses from around Greece and meats from several places, including Crete. Château Julia was a highlight. The wines are named for Mr. Lazaridis’s wife, Julia.

A smiling woman pouring a white Château Julia wine into a glass at the tasting counter — A glass of Château Julia at the tasting.

Slices of several cheeses on a slate board over a tasting mat marked Kapandriti and Oenotria Land — Cheeses from around Greece alongside the wines.

A bottle labeled Oenotria Land, Cabernet Sauvignon and Agiorgitiko, vintage 2023, beside a bread basket — Oenotria Land Cabernet Sauvignon–Agiorgitiko, 2023.

A man and a woman smiling with a red bottle box beside shopping bags at the winery counter — A few purchases before the drive back to Athens.

Of course, we couldn’t leave without buying some wine. We’ll see how much makes it back to San Diego. Our baggage allowance is getting heavier by the moment.

One more stop

On to
Marathon.

After leaving the winery, we continued to the historic battlefield at Marathon.

In 490 BC, the Athenians and their Plataean allies defeated the invading Persian army here. The famous story of Pheidippides running to Athens to announce victory, then collapsing and dying, is a legend. It inspired the marathon race introduced at the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

A little history after our own very enjoyable wine marathon.

How the marathon race began

A couple taking a photograph with a grassy mound and olive trees behind them at Marathon — One more stop: the historic site at Marathon.

A couple beside a tall stone relief of an armed figure among olive trees at Marathon — A little history after our wine marathon.

Cheers!
Denise & Yanni

The photo album

From the winery
to Marathon.

View all 22 photosHide photo album

Click or tap any photograph to take a closer look.

A woman standing beside a framed drawing of Domaine Costa Lazaridi at the museum entrance — The visit began with the story of the estate.

An Amethystos Blanc bottle marked 2014 in front of artwork with two figures and grapes — Amethystos Blanc and the artwork behind its label.

Three Idoniko bottles labeled tsipouro, ouzo and tsipouro with anise in front of a painted harbor scene — Painted scenes on the Idoniko spirits labels.

A large wooden barrel on a wheeled cart in front of rows of barrels in a stone room — Barrels, stone arches and an old transport cart.

A man and a woman standing beside large wooden barrels and a display of barrel-making tools — Around the museum, with plenty to stop and look at.

An arched stone niche filled with painted wine bottles, including Amethystos Cava labels marked 1999 — More of the decorated bottles in the collection.

Two people beside a glass display containing rows of corkscrews with different handles and mechanisms — Just part of the corkscrew collection. Remind you of anyone?

A smiling couple standing together in a stone corridor between iron cellar gates — A moment between the cellar rooms.

A tasting counter set with wine glasses, cheese plates and breadsticks, with a woman speaking behind it — The tasting table, ready for us.

Decorated wine bottles and wooden Costa Lazaridi cases displayed in a purple alcove — Bottles and wooden cases on display at the estate.

Three people standing arm in arm and smiling in front of wine shelves — A happy end to a long-awaited visit.

About the estate: Oenotria Land · The wine museum · The family’s wine history

Our first visit to Costa Lazaridi.

Before thefirst glass.

Remind youof anyone?

A few bottlescaught Yanni’s eye.

Starting withMalagouzia.