Wine tradition in Euboea (Euboea) dates back to the Abantes people. Homer calls Istiaia, a region in Euboea, “polystaphylos” (in Greek = yielding many grapes) according to a translation by author Nikos Kazantzakis: “…He was followed by forty black ships of the Lokri who lived across sacred Euboea. The leader of those who occupied Euboea, –the impetuous Abantes– and Chalkis, and Eretria and Istiaia with the numerous vineyards and coastal Kyrinthos and the town of Diou, was Elephinoras, follower of god Ares and son of Chalkodontas…” (Iliad 536)
The cult of the god of Wine in Euboea was therefore a self-evident and historical fact. Coins dating back to that period depict the head of Dionysus and Ariadne on the front, and a vine shoot on the back, thus, attesting to the deep-rooted viticultural relationship which has survived intact into the present, tenaciously withstanding time…
Coins usually depicted the sun above the vine motif, so as to demonstrate the significant contribution of the island’s sunshine to its timeless wine production. Due to the local, high-quality wine production, Euboea became known in the commercial world both in the colonies of Chalkidiki and those of Lower Italy.
The fact that vines thrive from antiquity to this day is attributed to the Euboean slaty soil characterized by diverse geological formations of a volcanic nature.
