Amargiotakis Winery

The Amargiotakis Winery is located in Dafnes, Heraklion, Crete, in the Dafnes viticultural zone, where several of Crete’s indigenous varieties are cultivated in privately owned and cooperating vineyards, with an emphasis on the Liatiko variety, a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

The winery’s history begins in 1965, when grandfather Amargiotakis started producing quality wines. His son expanded the privately owned vineyards with new plantings, driven by a special love of viticulture. A third-generation winemaker, the current owner Manolis Amargiotakis, took over in 2003. In 2006 he moved to Athens to promote the winery’s products and to broaden his winemaking knowledge, visiting major European wineries. After returning from a trip to France, he decided to relocate and modernize the winery. In 2017 the project was completed, and with his wife Eleftheria as his ally, they began to discover his own path in the magical world of wine. Always selecting the best oenologists for the evolution of the winery’s wines, we reached 2019 with chemist/oenologist Giannis Harkoutsis, and the first complete range of Amargiotakis wines was launched.

Our vision is for the winery to contribute to the proper promotion of the Cretan vineyard, as we believe Crete is one of the most remarkable European wine regions.

The winery cultivates 80 acres of owned vineyards, with several of Crete’s indigenous grape varieties, and we also work with cooperating vineyards that are monitored at all stages of grape production. We aim to bottle single-variety wines to best highlight each variety’s characteristics.

We strive for proper energy management in the winery and practice circular grape management by composting the lees and returning them to the vineyards. The winery is ideally located at the entrance to the village of Dafnes, overlooking the surrounding vineyards.

We offer wine tours and tastings, and you can book a visit to taste the indigenous varieties.