The winery Afianes Wines was established with love and taste in Raches on the island of Ikaria in 1997, with the primary aim of giving Ikaria wine the place it deserves on the wine map of Greece. In September 2007 the modern winery of the company was inaugurated at Prophet Elias in Raches. It is built in a vineyard at an altitude of 610 meters. The “cyclopean horseshoe”, the traditional clay jar storage area on the premises, foreshadows the process of wine production.

In the underground area of the winery there is a system of winemaking and bottling, as well spaces for maturation and storage. Upstairs are the offices of Afianes Wines, the presentation hall and the showroom, which includes a collection of traditional utensils. A small theatre in the ancient style and a traditional building converted into a cellar are the crown in the winery’s image. Visitors have the opportunity to taste the winery’s wines in all areas and the fortune to enjoy them with a view of the Aegean sea.

The winery Afianes Wines has the pleasure of using the red grape variety fokiano, to which the land of Ikaria gave distinct features. It was referred to by this name for the first time in the text of a European traveler of the 15th century. The fokiano variety produces wine with a special aroma and a long aftertaste. Another grape variety which is used by the Afianes Wines company is the begleri variety, a local white variety, whose existence is tied to the island of Ikaria – as it has basically been grown only there for the last century. It has a strong aromatic and complex character as well as a remarkable acidity. The vineyards’ yield is lower than 5.000 kilos per hectare, cultivated on terraces all over the island.