Mourning in Pyrgos for the Passing of Christos Kanellopoulos of ‘Mercurius Estate’

Christos Kanellopoulos, aged 78, has passed away. The son of former mayor Lambe Kanellopoulos, he had been battling serious health issues in recent years. On Saturday morning (5/4/2025), he was found unresponsive at his home within the ‘Mercurius Estate.’ The news of Christos Kanellopoulos’s passing has spread sorrow throughout the local community of Pyrgos, as reported by iliaenimerosi.gr, and across the wine production sector nationwide. This is an irreplaceable loss, as Christos Kanellopoulos revitalized the family winery—estate. It is one of the oldest Greek wineries (the second oldest after Achaia Clauss) and a destination of unique natural beauty. Along with his brother Vasilis, representing the fourth generation of the Mercurius family, they led the systematic effort to revive the traditional cultivation practices of the Mercurius Estate (starting in the mid-1980s) with the aim of producing standardized high-quality wines. They modernized the old facilities with cutting-edge winemaking machinery and expanded the vineyards with new plantings, resulting in the wines of the Mercurius Estate ranking among the top in recent years, earning the challenging designation of ‘classics.’ Today, members of the fifth generation, siblings Dimitris and Lampris Kanellopoulos, actively participate in the business.