Do you make your own wine at home, waiting eagerly to open that first bottle for family and friends to try? Perhaps you feel like sharing it with a wider audience? It’s time for your wine to shine in a competition, and who knows—someday, people from both within and beyond Crete’s borders might raise a glass in your honor!

In Venerato, they take wine production very seriously. One taste will convince you!

Where: The Homemade Wine Tasting Competition will be held at the Union of Heraklion Winery’s facilities in Avgeniki, Paliani.
When: Friday, November 8, 2024, at 6:00 p.m.

This event is organized by the Venerato Cultural Association and the Union of Heraklion Winery. The evening begins with the competition and the awarding of the best homemade wines, overseen by enologists and sommeliers, including a guest sommelier from the Netherlands.

Winemakers of white, rosé, and red wines from the 2022, 2023, and 2024 vintages are welcome to participate. Each participant should bring their wine sample in unused PET or glass bottles labeled only with the production year. Samples can be dropped off at the Union of Heraklion Winery from Monday to Friday until November 8, 2024, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

During the event, Lena Igoumenaki, president of the Cretan Cuisine Festival, will prepare moustalevria and offer grape-based sweets for tasting. The evening will wrap up with a meal accompanied by the music of Michalis Frangiadakis.

Last year, more than 60 samples from around 50 local winemakers from the broader area participated, shared Venerato community president and former head of the local cultural association, Evangelos Maragakis. Most entries came from Venerato, Dafnes, Kerasia, and Siva, home to about 20 wineries known for their high-quality wines.

This year marks the 15th edition of the competition, which was skipped only during the pandemic. According to Maragakis, the competition has greatly improved the quality of homemade wine in the region, with guidance from the judges playing a key role. “Knowledge has passed to those making homemade wine, which is immensely satisfying,” he says.

Matina Manolaki from the Union of Heraklion adds that the competition reveals the love amateur winemakers have for their craft, offering a chance to try wines not yet available on the market. 

“Each winemaker, no matter how small, places their bottle reverently in front of the judges, eagerly awaiting their opinion. And if a prize comes, even better!” She notes that every year sees progress; for instance, someone may initially submit wine in a PET bottle, but by the next year, they’re bottling it with a homemade label!