Giannis Boutaris: A farewell to the winemaker who tamed fear

We say goodbye to Mr. Yiannis and remember what he confessed on stage eleven years ago… “Why you came into this world, I’m not looking into it. But you came. Look while you are here, have fun.” The first time I saw Giannis Boutaris in person was about eleven years ago at a TEDx event, in which, I must confess, I was forced to be dragged. It was the time when the group found the talks of professional encouragement very exciting and therapeutic, so I wanted and did not follow. See this post on Instagram. But this speech proved to be different from the others, because it concerned a subject that was occupied by every person in the Chamber: the management of fear. When Boutaris started talking, so many of us recognized in his description a part of ourselves. Some felt him like the one next to them at the bar, sharing silence, alcohol and anonymity. Others felt, through his words, the agony again before and after the “great leap” in the professional track. And some people hurt, because they got back in their place to say goodbye to someone of yours. But Mr. Yiannis was not there to tell us only about fear, but to explain to us how useful it is to accept him and become friends with him. Eleven years passed and I never forgot the bravery of this man, who went on a stage and did not hesitate to openly and publicly admit the passions of his film life in 26 minutes. We were impressed, but it was natural: before us we had a highly influential figure with history in the Greek political scene and in local government, but primarily in Greek wine. I firmly believe that those who are professionally engaged in the wine sector always carry a piece of their own in some way, whether they know it or not. Something similar that had happened to him: his DNA has always had his vine and juices in him. Giannis Boutaris was a fourth-generation winemaker, but preferred to regard him as a “crasa”—he considered this designation more familiar, more honest and closer to what he wished to do: to convey the wine culture and through this knowledge and love of life, history, art and philosophy. I bring his words back to mind and I can only admire the way he mastered his fear and made him his friend, but also his driving force for all his actions. He admitted that the fear, which led him to alcoholism and personal dramas, was the occasion to claim life again, while the fear of loneliness, after the death of Athena’s wife, was the one that prompted him to seek again companionship. And of course fear and anguish for the future, after the professional separation with his brother, pushed him to plant Xinomavro in Yanakohori, Imathia, to establish the Kir- Yiannis – introducing important innovations in the way of cultivation, winemaking and bottling – and to change once and for all the winemaking of Naoussa, as well as the Greek winery as a whole. How can you say goodbye to Giannis Boutaris, right? How can you write about everything he did with his restless spirit and tireless stubbornness? For Amyndeos and Nymphaeo , Arkturus , his devoted friends and countless enemies, his family, Thessaloniki ; I choose to repeat that he closed that speech at TEDx: “You have no reason in your life to compare yourself to anyone else. If you compare yourself to Alexander the Great, you will “suicide” because at 32 he was the ruler of the world. The point is, whatever you do in this life, decide that you should enjoy it. Why you came to this world, I’m not looking into it. But you came. Look while you are here, have a good time. ” Goodbye, Mr. John and thank you.