"… and when Kephalos settled on the island at the end of his travels, he brought with him the vine, that plant that is blessed by Dionysos, and thus won over the land, the heart and the soul of the Cephalonias".
"The Grapes of Hanaan - Albert Mousson
Corfu and Cephalonia – A Tour in 1858." "… they are amongst the best in the Ionian… they are strong enough to be exportable and, if allowed to mature, they would find approval in England."
John Davy 1842
"It is a pity that no entrepreneur, experienced in the winemaking methods of Madeira or France, establishes himself on Cephalonia. There is no doubt that he would succeed".
Charles Napier (1822-1830)
The first organized winemaking concern, The Wine Company of Cephalonia, was established in Argostoli by Dr. Nicholas Piniatoro who managed, after a whole year of correspondence, to bring over the French winemaker Galot. The growth of the company coincided with the unification of the Ionian Islands with Greece. However, despite the fact that English government was replaced by Greek, taxes remained unchanged.
Limited rash flow; the loss of the Venetian market, and the establishment of other wineries on the surrounding islands, quickly led to bankruptcy in 1865.
The facilities were leased out in 1867 to George Mantzavino-Kolenti. The company folded in 1876 and the facilities were sold at auction to the successful English merchant Ernest Toole. The cosmopolitan Toole, having expanded and modernized the facilities, organized a sales network, dynamically opening foreign markets, especially those of Germany, Holland and Scandinavia. Under Toole's management, the company became the seventh largest winemaking concern in Greece. It produced and exported Robola and, in 1900, opened a subsidiary in Lefkada. Other modern wineries began to appear around the same time. The most significant of these were the Floratou-Barbatt winery in Argostoli and the Dimo Antipa winery in Fiscardo.
Landmarks in the modern history of Cephalonia wine were the Calliga winery in Calligata and the Komitopouli Brothers' Mantzavino Winery is Katogi, on the Palliki peninsula. During that period the excellent local wine became well known internationally. Following the demise of these two companies, the history of winemaking on Cephalonia had many ups and downs. Today there are six modern wineries that produce bottled, branded wines.
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