The history of the barrel as a vessel for fermentation, aging, and wine storage dates back millennia, to the distant Gauls and Romans. One of the few “barrel-making hubs” in our country was the wider Metsovo region, specifically my village, Milia. Today, among the very few surviving barrel production units is mine — the Cooperage Workshop Panagiotis Soulios of Georgios, now in its fourth generation, which has been based in Ioannina for the past two decades.
I continue the tradition and craft started by the "founder" of my cooperage, my great-grandfather Dimitrios Soulios of Panagiotis in Milia Metsovou in 1915, who made barrels by hand using the simple tools of his time. The tradition was carried on by my grandfather Panagiotis Soulios of Dimitrios along with his brother and my father Georgios Soulios of Panagiotis, who developed the cooperage unit in Milia Metsovou, equipping it with modern machinery. At the same time, they studied and thoroughly learned about the proper uses of each type of wood, such as oak, roblo (Greek pine), and beech, their importance and value, as well as the appropriate processing methods to maximize their qualities. They combined their rich experience with scientific knowledge and information received from regions with more developed cooperage industries, such as the wine-growing regions of France.
In 2005, my father Georgios Soulios of Panagiotis and I, Panagiotis Soulios of Georgios, moved the production unit to Ioannina. Here, we managed to increase and expand our production. We did not limit ourselves to wine barrels only but also included cheese barrels, traditional wooden folk art items, household objects, and more. We also engaged in wooden barrel decorations for hospitality venues, hotels, and others.
