“Why-In,” with an I. Wines, essentially, that pose a question: are they really wines at all? That is the wordplay behind the fermented fruit wines created by the team at Line Athens, a concept that has been part of the bar’s identity since it opened in early 2022. Or rather, several products, all of which neatly capture the character of the venue currently ranked eighth in the world by The 50 Best Bars.
A bar whose ambition was never simply to be a bar, but a local ecosystem with an international outlook: a place where cocktails, ideas, art, and Greece itself could coexist under one roof. It is a challenge that appears to have been won from the outset, judging by the attention it has attracted from both media and guests. Line quickly established itself as one of the most compelling and closely followed bars on the global scene, thanks to the work of partners Vasilis Kyritsis, Nikos Bakoulis, Dimitris Dafopoulos, and Aimilia Bagia. Fermentation, certainly, but always with intent and a clear philosophy.
Vasilis Kyritsis Explains the “Why-In Concept
At Line, guests encounter Why-In, but also sourdough bread made with organic flours, unusual seasonal ingredients, and even beers produced with rare and highly specific yeast strains. Everything is approached through the lens of sustainability, expressed through packaging, sourcing decisions, near-zero waste practices, and even the venue itself. The central question here, particularly in light of a publication issue devoted to labels, is Line Athens’ fruit wine project, served in place of the predictable, interchangeable Chardonnay. “The idea didn’t emerge halfway through the process,” says Vasilis Kyritsis.
“We had already started working on it six months before opening. The essence of Line has always been to bring different worlds together under the same roof. We like to think of it as a neighborhood bar — although it sits about twenty minutes from the city center — that embraces sustainability, wellbeing, experimentation, and art.” The location reinforces that vision. Line occupies a former art gallery belonging to the Zouboulakis family, long active in the world of collecting for more than sixty years and directly involved in the project itself. The marble found throughout the bar, for example, was donated by the family.
How Terroir Shapes Line’s Identity
Returning to the wines, how do they fit within a bar of this calibre, where sustainability appears to be approached with uncommon seriousness? First, they represent a deliberate challenge: stepping away from conventional beverage categories in favor of something more fluid and dynamic. More broadly, they support the idea of the bar as a kind of multiverse. “For us, sustainability means, above all, working with the local territory. And territory means human beings,” Vasilis Kyritsis continues. “From the beginning, we wanted producers to be an integral part of the project. That’s why we establish real contracts with them, securing whatever the Greek seasons are able to offer.” These are not symbolic purchases. The quantities involved are measured in tons of fruit, offering stability for producers and ensuring that the Why-In programme remains serious, ambitious, and constantly evolving.
Vasilis Kyritsis: Crafting the Why-Ins
Production is handled in-house by a team led by Giannis Vavadakis and Michael Angelos Zeimpekis, following a process that mirrors conventional winemaking. Fruit is fermented for as long as necessary, with oversight from Thanos Georgilas, the accomplished winemaker behind T-oinos, the highly regarded wines produced on the island of Tinos, poured in restaurants across Alain Ducasse’s empire. “We have two categories of Why-In, almost like our own white and red wines,” Kyritsis explains.
“We call them Classic and Fancy. In the first category, guests taste the fruit wine in its purest form, experiencing its defining characteristics directly. In the second, we allow ourselves more creative freedom, building hybrids that begin with fruit wine but are layered with additional techniques and ingredients to create greater complexity.” One example is a pomegranate wine enriched with a smoky distillate, walnut, and spice. Another is a sparkling fig wine whose base fermentation is elevated with pistachio brioche, “with Champagne very much in mind.”
Vasilis Kyritsis and the Future of the Why-Ins
Each batch yields roughly 200 to 250 bottles, with labels designed by graphic artist Eleni Sakali, inspired by the fruit itself, the season, or even a work of art. If the bar is increasingly being conceived in cross-disciplinary ways, then Line is getting the formula right. Not simply because of the ideas themselves, but because those ideas actively reshape the expectations and cultural habits of guests. “At first, people were a little skeptical,” Kyritsis admits. “But within a few months — and increasingly ever since — many guests learned to appreciate our Why-In. That allows us to keep producing new ones and to keep pushing the experimentation further.” As for broader distribution beyond the walls of Line? “We’re working on it,” he says. Yamas!
The article first appeared on Coqtail – for fine drinkers. Order your copy here
Images courtesy Line Athens
