MYTHS AND LEGENDS

The ancient myth of Cephalonia (Kefallinia) revolves around the story of Cephalus and his wife Procris, who lived in Athens. The goddess Io, rebuffed by Cephalus in her amorous advances, sowed seeds of doubt in his mind about his wife’s fidelity. At the goddess’ urging, Cephalus disguised himself and courted Procris as a stranger. When she finally succumbed, he revealed himself and she fled in shame. Later, the couple was reunited with the help of the goddess of purity Artemis, but Procris, having learned of her husband’s involvement with Io, followed him on a hunting trip. Hearing a rustle in the thicket, and thinking that he had found his prey, Cephalus killed Procris with his arrow. In sorrow, Cephalus fled Athens and finally settled on the island of Cephalonia, which took his name.

Other ancient stories say that Cephalus was an ancestor of Odysseus and that, when he left Athens, he took with him a vine which, upon his arrival, he planted on the island of Cephalonia.

HISTORY

Cephalonia, the island of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, is the largest and most complex of the seven Ionian Islands in western Greece. Unlike the rest of Greece, the Ionian Islands were under Ottoman control for only twenty years. A part of the Venetian Empire for the next four hundred years, these Islands were placed under British Protection in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, and were united with Greece in 1864. It was here that Sir Thomas Maitland instituted the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Edward Lear and Joseph Cartwright painted some of their most evocative landscapes, and Sir Charles Napier, as a youthful Resident, named one of his daughters Cephalonia.

Wine has been made on Cephalonia since ancient time, and a French entrepreneur set up a winery and put wine in bottle in the 1850’s. Cephalonia is the only Ionian Island to have been granted “appellation of origin” for its vines - and it has not one but three, for Robola, Muscat and Mavrodaphne. The imposing, cooling heights of Mount Ainos and the rocky limestone soil provide this island with the best conditions for Mediterranean vineyards.

THE ROBOLA ZONE

The Robola grapes grow in the high plateau of the Valsamata Valley. The vineyards are tiny - each grower has an average of 4.5 stremma (1.2 acres) under vine, with each plot being an average of just 2.6 stremma (0.65 acre). Yields are extremely low - not more than 800kg / stremma (200kg / acre). Vineyards are planted as high up as 700 meters above sea level on the slopes of imposing Mount Ainos whose peak reaches 1,620 meters and dominates the microclimate of the surrounding area. Some of the vineyards are cultivated on steep slopes where the soil is so shallow that the vines are planted horizontally, with one end turned up, to maximize root growth. The soil is alkaline but the valley, which is located in the center of the island, does not suffer from proximity to the sea. The altitude ensures cooler winters and later budding in spring. The valley is prone to more spring rain and night mists, which can induce outbreaks of downy mildew, while brief summer storms frequently delay harvest. The Robola vineyards therefore have unique growing conditions which result in concentrated flavours in the wines.