Ikarian Wine Club, Ikaria, Greece

How does Ikarian Wine Club minimise its impact on the environment and contribute to a sense of place?

To reduce its draw on natural resources, Ikarian Wine Club uses a hybrid heating system (solar panels/wood) which provides all hot water and heating in the winter and all electricity is generated from solar panels. Items are reused where possible, all waste is recycled and food waste is composted. The owners participate in the local movement for recycling. They clean and reuse almost all water used from the guests, family and the winery for watering plants and rain water is collected and used in the garden. Only biodegradable cleaning products are used. Most dishes are made with organic produce and some originates from the farm.

Guests can arrive by train and ferry to reach Ikaria where they are provided with many suggestions for nature walks and cycling. The owners aim to maintain the local culture, which the family keeps alive most of the traditions passed down from their ancestors. They have a small museum where they keep many antique that their family has used over the last 500 years.  They continue a tradition of thousands of years of wine production, preserve the stone mills; one for olives and one for grain, as well as the 'petalo', a wine-press made from five big stones of granite where their ancestors made wine for thousands of years and stored it in traditional clay pots planted in the ground.