Παρνασσός (Parnassos)

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The delimited winegrowing zone of the PGI Parnassos lies at an altitude of more than 350 metres, with vineyards reaching up to 550 metres, characterising it as a mountain winegrowing zone.
• Most vineyards extend across slopes in order to achieve better drainage and adequate sun exposure throughout the day.
• The soils of the vineyards at the foothills of Mount Parnassus are clayey and loamy, with a pH below 6 and rich in calcium carbonate.
• The climate of the area is characterised as Mediterranean with strong continental tendencies, featuring particularly cold winters and cool summers, where the mean summer temperature is 25.5 °C while in winter it frequently drops below 0 °C.
• The area records an average of 10 frost days and 15 snow days per year, while mean annual rainfall is approximately 789.6 mm, with higher precipitation from October through April.

• The area surrounding the present-day villages is identified with the site where the prosperous city of Lilaia flourished — a city already mentioned in Homer — as well as the Phocian city of Erochos, recorded by Herodotus.
• The significant role of viticulture in the area is documented by sources drawn from the surviving texts of the traveller Pausanias.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Greece

Sources

• National product specification (PDF) — ypaat
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-GR-A1026
• Official trade body site — Wines of Greece (EDOAO)