Our November guest is author Maria Mavrikaki, in an event dedicated to the memory of Yiannis Boutaris, focusing on their co-authored book Sixty Years of Harvest, published by Patakis Editions.

With his characteristic frankness, Yiannis Boutaris recounts his preordained—by family tradition—engagement with wine, his collective initiatives, and the innovations and conflicts that marked the Greek wine industry from the postwar period to the present day.
He describes the struggle with alcoholism he managed to overcome and the support he later offered to others facing addiction. Political views and controversial aspects of his personality, often the subject of public debate, emerge alongside fragments of intense family moments, capturing the wisdom, charisma, contradictions, and ultimately, the life account of winemaker Kir-Yiannis. Sixty years of harvest are not enough for him; his narrative concludes with his still-unfulfilled vision.

Maria Mavrikaki was born in 1964 in Peristeri, Athens. She has worked in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development, in the financial sector, and in healthcare administration. Her writings appear in Athens Voice, BookPress, a8inEA, and on her personal blog exartatai.blogspot.com.
Together with Yiannis Boutaris, she co-authored his autobiography Sixty Years of Harvest (Patakis Editions, 2020). Her other works include Perastika (Aiolos Editions) and It Depends: A Life Story Next to Addiction (Patakis Editions, 2021). In 2021, she received the First Prize in the Short Screenplay Adaptation Competition of the Greek Screenwriters’ Guild. Her play It Depends, adapted from her book, was staged by the Antonios Theatre Scene in 2023. Her latest play Without Restraint (Patakis Editions, 2025) is currently being performed for a second season at the same venue.

Yiannis Boutaris was born (June 13, 1942) and passed away (November 9, 2024) in Thessaloniki. A graduate chemist of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and a qualified oenologist, he continued his family’s rich wine-making tradition through the company I. Boutaris & Son, founded by his grandfather in 1879.
He left the Boutari company in 1996 to establish Kir-Yianni, producing the renowned wines of the same name at his own vineyards and wineries in Giannakochori (Naoussa) and Amyntaio, now run by his two sons.
He served as president or board member of numerous professional, environmental, and cultural organizations, including: the International Academy of Wine, the Greek Wine Federation, the Interprofessional Organization of Vine and Wine, the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, and WWF Greece.
He was a founding member of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and the Oasis Support Center for Addicts, as well as the founder of Arcturos, a wildlife conservation organization protecting the brown bear and natural ecosystems.
He received many national and international distinctions and played a leading role in the effort to establish the Holocaust Museum of Thessaloniki, where he served as both president and vice president.
Yiannis Boutaris was Mayor of Thessaloniki for two consecutive terms, from 2010 to 2019.