Anavyssos in Attica is the location of the historic headquarters of Strofilia and its first winery. In the surrounding vineyards, the main crop is Savatiano, which is perfectly adapted to the arid Attic climate. The vineyards of the area are generally very old, shaped in a ‘cup’, with very low yields per acre and high productive potential, while in the last 10-15 years, newer growers are also experimenting with other varieties. In the privately-owned vineyard of 35 acres next to the winery, Malagouzia and Assyrtiko are cultivated, in a supported linear shaping system, demonstrating very good adaptation and typical characteristics.

In Asprokampos Nemea, where it has established its second winery since 2000. The viticulturists who have been working with them since 1993 belong mainly to the mountainous communities of the NEMEA PDO zone: Psari, Asprokampos, Kefalari, Kastraki and Bozika. Naturally, the cultivation of Agiorgitiko prevails, but in the last 20 years other Greek and international varieties have been tried with great success. The vines that have been planted since 1980 are shaped mainly in a linear supported system, with a high stem vigour for improved maturation. The harvest in this zone, where the altitude from 600 m up to 900 m, takes place about two weeks later than in the plain of Nemea and, depending on the variety and climatic conditions of the year, can extend to the first ten days of October. The company has more than 80 acres of vineyards in this mountainous zone, in seven different areas, with an additional 40 acres on the slopes in Ancient Nemea. The varieties cultivated, apart from Agiorgitiko, include Malagouzia, Assyrtiko, Moschato and other international white and red varieties.

In more than 100 acres of the above vineyards, the shaping of the stem wall using the LYRE system has now been applied. This solution has been proposed since the ’90s, as being qualitatively best for temperate climates, by the French Professor Carbonneau, as well as the Australian Dr Richard Smart.

Since 2002 Achilles Lampsidis has conducted extensive experiments in Ancient Nemea, Asprokampos, and Psari, primarily seeking a solution to the excessive vigour of the Nemea vineyards. The application of the LYRE vine training system in practice resulted in optimal control of the vigour of the plants, with a reduction of 50% in the average size of a bunch, without an increase in the total production per acre.

The resulting improvement of the biological balance of the plant, due to the 50% increase of the sun-exposed surface of the stem wall per kilo of grapes, has had an extremely positive corresponding effect on the quality of the wines produced. Of course, the adoption of the system in other vineyards requires scientific evaluation of the data that Strofilia now possesses, as well as experimental application under scientific supervision.