SIATISTA Dance,Food,Nightlife

Situated between Kozani and Grevena, on the southwest foothills of Mount Vermion, the city of Siatista is well hidden in a crevice of the slopes of Mount Siniatsiko, facing the south. Only Siatista’s vineyards which are stretched on the east side of this crevice notify the passer-by about the existence of a settlement in the area. The rubble limestone slopes would probably lead to the impression that vine-trees are cultivated in Siatista since the beginning of times, although, evidently the city did not become a winery centre until after the Ottoman presence in the area. In the early days, Siatista, being built at an altitude of approximately 970m high, was no more than a settlement of  Vlachoi, a bucolic greek tribe speaking a latin-originated language.

Starting the end of the last century Siatista had practically no motive at all to keep up with the latest progress in the field of winery. When phylloxera struck France, the French merchands began to dust the frail pages of their old travelling and winery books where they discovered references of Siatista. It was referred as Chatista or Schatista and the comments were truly exclamatory. In a post-modern publication of Julien’s book the wines of Siatista are called “the best wines in Macedonia”, exactly like the times of Pouqueville.

However the grape type which shows specific interest, when it comes to Siatista, is the so-called Moshomavro, the Black Muskat for the Oxident. The Moshomavro grape is of great significance because it is the base of the most famous wine of Siatista, the sweet Liastos Vin. “The good fame of the mutton and the hare of Siatista is only prevailed be the fame of its wines, which are produced by every family in a unique way, so that they conclude to the outmost magnificence presenting the LiastosVin. (Leonhard Schultze, Makedonien, 1927). In the beginning of our century the liastos wine was sold ten time more expensively than the notorious red sec wine of the town.