Euro
SHE - Honouring Female Winemakers - Melina Tassou
Melina Tasou
Kikones
1.How do you balance tradition and innovation in your winemaking process?
Since Domaine Kikones is in Thrace - Greece and our region was liberated from the Ottomans only a hundred years ago, all traditional practices of winemaking were abandoned after 500 years of Muslim rule. That’s why during my studies in France Bordeaux and Burgundy I used traditional techniques that we now apply during the winemaking procedure at Domaine Kikones. We also use, of course, all the scientific knowledge that I acquired during my studies in Bordeaux France, where I attended the “National Diploma of Winemaking” (DNO) of France.
2.What are the biggest business challenges you have encountered, and how have you overcome them?
One of the biggest financial challenges we had to face was the period where the Capital Controls were imposed in Greece. Since we produce wines that age for many years, even for our whites, we had to import barrels and corks from France and Portugal and pay in advance, even in the most difficult times for Greece. Even if this was something very difficult at the moment, we had to do it because when one of our wines would be tasted many years after the crisis, nobody would have to remember what happened during that year—they just have to remember that they drink a very, very good quality wine that is called “Kikones”.
3.What makes your wines unique, and what story do you want them to tell the world?
Domaine Kikones wines are a success story on how a girl with a dream to start the first winery in a region, where half of the population are Muslims and do not drink alcohol, managed to make quality wines, largely accepted by the sommelier community worldwide and sell them in the best restaurants in the world and export them in Cyprus, the United States, Switzerland, France, and Japan.
4.What inspired you to become a winemaker, and what challenges did you face as a woman in the industry?
When I did my first Chemistry Class at the age of 15, I was excited to discover that one very beautiful smell and one awful smell had very few differences in their chemical formula. That’s why in the beginning I had the idea to become a perfumist. After a few years I noticed I loved a lot tasting different flavors and creative cooking, becoming a chef was an idea that also crossed my mind. I guess at the end I combined the perfumery and the cooking, so one day magically winemaking was born… The challenges I had to face as a woman were many and on different levels. Winemaking includes not only tasting, but also using your hands, touching the grapes, getting to work with hoses, pumps, and traditionally male tools… Being persistent and doing your work right, while speaking up for yourself is always helpful.
5.How do you see the role of women evolving in the wine industry, and what advice would you give to aspiring female winemakers?
Being a woman and working at the same time in winemaking is sometimes challenging. We could say it’s two different jobs… It always depends on the individual and the willpower that each one has in them. If you really like something and you want to follow your dream there is nothing that can stand between you and your goals.
Kikones
1.How do you balance tradition and innovation in your winemaking process?
Since Domaine Kikones is in Thrace - Greece and our region was liberated from the Ottomans only a hundred years ago, all traditional practices of winemaking were abandoned after 500 years of Muslim rule. That’s why during my studies in France Bordeaux and Burgundy I used traditional techniques that we now apply during the winemaking procedure at Domaine Kikones. We also use, of course, all the scientific knowledge that I acquired during my studies in Bordeaux France, where I attended the “National Diploma of Winemaking” (DNO) of France.
2.What are the biggest business challenges you have encountered, and how have you overcome them?
One of the biggest financial challenges we had to face was the period where the Capital Controls were imposed in Greece. Since we produce wines that age for many years, even for our whites, we had to import barrels and corks from France and Portugal and pay in advance, even in the most difficult times for Greece. Even if this was something very difficult at the moment, we had to do it because when one of our wines would be tasted many years after the crisis, nobody would have to remember what happened during that year—they just have to remember that they drink a very, very good quality wine that is called “Kikones”.
3.What makes your wines unique, and what story do you want them to tell the world?
Domaine Kikones wines are a success story on how a girl with a dream to start the first winery in a region, where half of the population are Muslims and do not drink alcohol, managed to make quality wines, largely accepted by the sommelier community worldwide and sell them in the best restaurants in the world and export them in Cyprus, the United States, Switzerland, France, and Japan.
4.What inspired you to become a winemaker, and what challenges did you face as a woman in the industry?
When I did my first Chemistry Class at the age of 15, I was excited to discover that one very beautiful smell and one awful smell had very few differences in their chemical formula. That’s why in the beginning I had the idea to become a perfumist. After a few years I noticed I loved a lot tasting different flavors and creative cooking, becoming a chef was an idea that also crossed my mind. I guess at the end I combined the perfumery and the cooking, so one day magically winemaking was born… The challenges I had to face as a woman were many and on different levels. Winemaking includes not only tasting, but also using your hands, touching the grapes, getting to work with hoses, pumps, and traditionally male tools… Being persistent and doing your work right, while speaking up for yourself is always helpful.
5.How do you see the role of women evolving in the wine industry, and what advice would you give to aspiring female winemakers?
Being a woman and working at the same time in winemaking is sometimes challenging. We could say it’s two different jobs… It always depends on the individual and the willpower that each one has in them. If you really like something and you want to follow your dream there is nothing that can stand between you and your goals.