Some places in Greece are loud about their beauty.
Ano Milia is not one of them.

You don’t arrive here by accident. You climb toward the forests of Pieria — not the famous Olympus side that fills brochures, but the quiet slopes above the villages, where springs run cold, boar tracks cut across soft earth, and the view opens toward Mount Olympus like a held breath.

Yesterday, 25 October 2025, I walked these woods with winemaker Giorgos Pouliakis of Oraia Gi Winery. I wasn’t there as a guest at a tasting — not yet. I was there to understand the terrain, the light, the feeling. To ask: can the forest itself host a wine experience without becoming content for mass tourism? Can we keep it human, quiet, intentional?

Because what’s coming is not another “wine tour in Greece.”

What’s coming is the first chapter of Exclusive Experiences – Olympus & Beyond.

And it will not be for everyone.

A forest, a bottle, and no rush

In the summer, Pouliakis and his partner Dimitra brought their full range of wines — white, rosé, and red — into the forest.
They set up a simple wooden table beside a stone spring. No stage, no microphones, no linen influencers.
A local DJ mixed soft bossa nova and Greek lounge tracks, music that didn’t interrupt but accompanied the forest.
Chestnut, beech, oak, and fir trees surrounded the gathering like quiet guardians.
Laughter echoed under the canopy; the sound of water blended with rhythm and clinking glasses catching sunlight between leaves.

We filmed it. We watched people sit on picnic blankets under filtered green light, taking slow sips like prayer. We watched strangers begin to talk about love.

In fact, that’s how the video begins — with people trying to answer a question that terrifies and heals at the same time:

“What is love for you?”

Now we return in late October. The air is still warm — impossibly warm, like April or May — the kind of soft autumn heat that tricks you into taking off your jacket and forgetting what month it is.

Chestnuts cover the path in thousands. Wild chestnuts, not all harvested, not all eaten yet by the boar. You can pick one up, break it open, eat it raw right there, still cool from the shade. The trail we walk is called The Love Trail, and it is gentle, almost ceremonial. Local volunteers shaped it for everyone: couples, slow walkers, people who don’t “do hiking” but still want to feel forest.

Along the way, small wooden animals appear fixed to tree trunks — quiet companions left by local hands.

Further on, the path turns into what the villagers call the Road of Wishes: a single tree where visitors tie a ribbon or thread, leaving behind a hope. Fragments of poetry are nailed to trees like soft instructions from the forest itself, reminders that affection can also be a kind of architecture.

It’s not romantic in the Instagram way. It’s romantic in the “I could live like this” way.

Between Pieria and Olympus

Geography matters here.

Ano Milia sits on the Pieria mountain side of Pieria (yes, same name — the region takes its name from these mountains, not only from Olympus). But from certain clearings, you turn your head and Olympus fills your entire field of vision. Not a postcard Olympus. A living, breathing, jagged Olympus, close enough that you feel the weight of its ridgelines.

At 16:42 yesterday, climbing from Mesaia Milia toward Ano Milia, the light dropped low and clean. The sky was cloudless, sharp, blue. Olympus stood in full clarity, carved against that late-afternoon brightness. This is one of those moments that usually gets sold, branded, packaged.

We’re not selling it. We’re making sure it survives.

And then, a few turns higher, the mountain road narrows, trees fold in, and Pieria shifts mood again:

Here is where the idea lives:
A wine experience between two mountains — Olympus and the Pieria range — not in a tasting room, not in a vineyard terrace, but in the forest itself.

Oraia Gi — the wine and the hands behind it

The wines you drink out here don’t arrive anonymously. They are poured by the people who made them.

Giorgos Pouliakis, owner of the vineyards and of Oraia Gi Winery, brings not only the bottles — he brings the story. He speaks about soil, about patience, about the particular way Pieria light hits the fruit. Dimitra stands beside him with the calm smile of someone who has seen guests go quiet after the first sip.

And yes, people do go quiet.

And because nature here never forgets she is hosting:

Faith in the trees: Saint Kosmas and the Iron Cross

Ano Milia is more than forest and wine — it carries stories carved into bark.
In the 18th century, Saint Kosmas of Aetolia passed through these slopes and, before leaving, drove an iron cross into the split of a pine tree.
Centuries later, the tree still stands, the metal still holds — a quiet symbol of faith rooted in the mountain.

It’s a reminder: our first Exclusive Wine Experience is not only about taste.
It’s about entering a living landscape — and knowing you are a guest.

Exclusive Experiences – Olympus & Beyond (pre-launch)

So here is what we are building.

Imagine: You are picked up, discreetly. You are not given a public meeting point; this is not mass tourism. Phones may go away for a while. The location is not geotagged. You are guided into the forest — an easy walk, more like a ritual than a hike.

You taste wine with the person who made it, beside cold running spring water. You listen to stories of the land, not just flavor notes. You feel Pieria mountain under you and Olympus facing you.

There may be food.
There may be music.
There may be things we will only speak about when you are there.

This is slow living, not spectacle.
This is depth over noise.

And yes, it will be invitation-only.

Because here in Pieria we have watched what happened to places that became hashtags before they were protected. We will not let these forests turn into Santorini-at-sunset 2.0. We are not designing a crowd product. We are designing a memory.

Watch the summer forest tasting (full film)

Practical notes (for those already dreaming)

• Location: Ano Milia, Pieria Mountains — easy forest access, with clear viewpoints toward Mount Olympus.
• Walking level: Gentle. The Love Trail (Monopáti tis Agápis) is curated by locals so anyone can enter the forest without needing to “be a hiker.”
• Seasonal feel right now: Late October 2025 feels like early May — clear sun, warm air, total visibility of Olympus.
• Why invitation-only: Protection. We do not want to turn sacred quiet into product packaging.
• The wine: Local production by Oraia Gi Winery, served by the winemaker himself.

Stay tuned — invitations will be revealed only to those who seek the unseen.

Giorgos Gizelis

Travel Writer & Founder of Experience Pieria

Exploring Pieria & Greece one story at a time — sharing authentic places, people and tastes.

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