Babis Bekris

The Climb

Babis Bekris leads Akrathos Newlands Winery in Panagia as CEO, and the role sits inside a longer inheritance of grape work rather than outside it. Born in the Peloponnese to a family of grapegrowers, he came up with wine as labor, seasonality, and repetition—work measured by weather, slope, and the time fruit needs to reach balance. Raised in Messinia, he carried a clear aim into Chalkidiki: to make wine in a mountainous terroir where every season asks for attention to the land and to the timing of each decision. Today, the discipline of agriculture and the pull of origin are still the frame around his work. In Panagia, Bekris has built a career that reads as steady accumulation rather than quick ascent, with the pace set by conditions that cannot be forced. Leading a winery in this setting means working inside the limits of the season, and his approach appears to be shaped by that reality.

Today

In Panagia, the work turns on ripeness, timing, and harvest conditions—the variables that decide whether fruit only qualifies or actually delivers. Bekris is plain about that patience: “We need a few more days of the beneficial September sun.” The line is practical, not decorative. It describes a maker who reads fruit against weather and waits when the season still has something to give. That is vineyard discipline: watch closely, trust the conditions, and move only when the fruit has earned the decision.

Signature

Babis's signature wines include Akrathos Assyrtiko, Akrathos Newlands Winery Xinomavro 2018, Orator Rosé, and Philosopher. Together, they map the range associated with Akrathos Newlands Winery under Bekris: precision and structure, freshness and depth, wines made with restraint and purpose rather than excess.

In Their Words “The advantage of the late harvest offers grapes of excellent ripeness for the production of special wines, this is Akrathos.” “We need a few more days of the beneficial September sun.”

Recognition

The craft position Bekris states most directly is about late harvest and the ripeness it can deliver. “The advantage of the late harvest offers grapes of excellent ripeness for the production of special wines, this is Akrathos.” The point is clear: wait for the fruit to arrive fully, and use that timing to make wines that depend on maturity rather than haste.