Winemaker
Haridimos Hatzidakis
- Discipline
- Winemaker
- Based in
- Pyrgos Kallistis, Greece
i. Biography
Haridimos Hatzidakis was born in Crete, and the shape of his work points to a winemaker for whom place was never decorative. Before co-founding Hatzidakis Winery in Pyrgos Kallistis in 1997, he served as chief oenologist at Boutari Winery in Santorini, bringing a measured and exacting approach to the making of wine on one of Greece’s most closely watched islands. His own line draws the boundary between cellar work and vineyard work with unusual clarity: "A fine wine is made in the Winery, an excellent wine in the Vineyard."
The Path
Haridimos Hatzidakis began in 1991 as an intern at J. Boutaris and Sons, a starting point that quickly expanded into greater responsibility. He then moved through senior roles, serving as chief oenologist at Boutari Winery until 1997 and, in parallel, as head oenologist at J. Boutaris and Sons Santorini winery in Santorini until 1997. Those years established the working structure of his career: learning the discipline from within, then helping to shape it with authority. In 1997, he became co-founder and winemaker at Hatzidakis Winery in Santorini, a role he held through 2017, marking two decades in which his name became closely linked with the island’s viticultural identity.
The Work Today
The work attached to his name is winemaking built from vineyard and cellar together, with neither allowed to override the other. In that balance between control and restraint, his approach reads as disciplined and rooted.
Career - intern — J. Boutaris and Sons (from 1991) - chief oenologist — Boutari Winery (until 1997) - head oenologist — J. Boutaris and Sons Santorini winery, Santorini (until 1997) - co-founder and winemaker — Hatzidakis Winery, Santorini (1997–2017)
Signature
Haridimos’s signature wines include Santorini, Mavrotragano, Nykteri, Mylos, and Voudomato. Together, these names map the span of his work and the range of his attention, from grape to expression, from the island’s familiar contours to its more specific voices.
In Their Words “A fine wine is made in the Winery, an excellent wine in the Vineyard.”
Acclaim
The recognition in this career is carried by responsibility: chief oenologist, then co-founder and winemaker. Those roles, and the years attached to them, are the record of his standing—earned through years of exacting work, and through a philosophy that consistently returned to the vineyard as the starting point of excellence.
FAQ Where did Haridimos Hatzidakis work before? Haridimos Hatzidakis's earlier career included J. Boutaris and Sons, Boutari Winery, and J. Boutaris and Sons Santorini winery.
