Thessaly lies at the heart of continental Greece and morphologically it is formed by the highest Greek mountain, Mount Olympus, as well as one of the country’s largest plains. Thessaly’s economy is largely based on agriculture, though the majority of the farmland is dedicated to crops other than grapes. The vast, flat and fertile Thessaly plain is crossed by the Pineios river and it is surrounded by high mountains. Thessaly is separated in four geographical units (prefectures).

Larissa is one of the four geographical units of Thessaly. It is relatively flat; however, on its northeastern part lie Mounts Olympus and Ossa. The most important region of Thessaly, PDO Rapsani (ΠΟΠ Ραψάνη), is located on the lower slopes of the mountains. The slopes can be very steep, the soils are poor and slatey-stony and the high-diurnal temperature range create ideal conditions for the slow development of aromatics for Xinomavro. The noble grape variety is complemented by Krasato and Stavroto, in varying percentages. PDO Rapsani (ΠΟΠ Ραψάνη) is dedicated to the production of red wines. The wines display a ripe plummy fruit character, spicy notes and powerful, yet tamed, tannic structure. Due to the warmer climate and the more southern latitude, Rapsani wines are always fuller and smoother than the leaner and more austere wines of PDO Naoussa (ΠΟΠ Νάουσα).

Another important center of production in Larissa is PGI Tyrnavos (ΠΓΕ Τύρναβος). Here the land is more fertile and flatter and there is a large number of grape varieties cultivated in the area. Among them, the recently revived Limniona shows great quality potential.

There are two more PDO appellations in Thessaly. The first one is PDO Mesenikola (ΠΟΠ Μεσενικόλα) which is situated in Karditsa prefecture and the vineyards lie on the shores of lake Plastira. This is a red-only appellation which blends local Mavro Mesenikola with Syrah and Carignan.

The second one, PDO Anchialos (ΠΟΠ Αγχίαλος), is located in Magnisia and produces fruity and easy-drinking wines from Roditis and Savatiano.

PGI Meteora (ΠΓΕ Μετέωρα), in Trikala, increasingly produces wines of excellent quality based on both Greek and international grape varieties. In total, Thessaly has 8 protected geographical indications PGI Thessalia (ΠΓΕ Θεσσαλία), PGI Karditsa (ΠΓΕ Καρδίτσα), PGI Magnisia (ΠΓΕ Μαγνησία), PGI Elassona (ΠΓΕ Ελασσόνα), PGI Krania (ΠΓΕ Κρανιά), PGI Krannona (ΠΓΕ Κραννώνα), PGI Meteora (ΠΓΕ Μετέωρα), PGI Tyrnavos (ΠΓΕ Τύρναβος). PGI Thessalia (ΠΓΕ Θεσσαλία) covers all the different wine-growing areas of the department.