Hello

Once, we were having dinner at a friend's house with RIK's leading music producer… At one point I asked him what he had studied: "Architecture" he answered with a smile. He saw the surprise painted on my face, the smile widened and he added: "L'architecture mène à tout"… Architecture leads to everything!

I thanked him, he had justified my whole life…

 

Architecture was my first love… but when I was just 17 years old I started another a love affair that lasted all my life! I never betrayed her, she never let me down. My friends know her very well!

 

I studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens, I entered first and finished second with the junta in power and some good friends and fellow students in jail! Yes, I loved architecture, and I think I became a very good architect, with many awards in architectural competitions, with some important clients and  projects…

 

But as Andreas Papandreou and his PASOK party came to power everything in the thriving construction business came to a stop, large companies closed, construction giants "migrated" abroad, and at some point I found myself counting how many balls for the Christmas tree I could buy - gifts for my two children were out of discussion! I was shocked and promised to myself that this would never  happen again!

 

I kept my promise: I "betrayed" my first love, but I was already flirting with my second one: it was the time when these awesome "kids" in the US - Bill Gates, Steve Jobs & Co - turned their parents' garages into workshops for a new science, Information technology and the Personal Computer, which were ready to change the evolution of the world,! The first "Computers" had already appeared, and I was at the time ready to change my first one, the Sinclair, with Osborne.

 

This “flirting” turned into love, and love into work: When I suggested to my then partner to start a Computer Business, he asked me "what is a Computer!". Nevertheless, in 3 months, ATKO Computer Systems was a fact, with an office, staff ( the two partners and a secretary!) and our first Apple II made the new office more beautiful and our wallet… lighter by the then incredible amount of… 300,000 drachmas! We started our new “adventure” almost broke!

 

But… good luck helps the brave… and the beginners! The two ignorant engineers (us!) who invaded the Computer Market like bulls in a glass shop causing the ironic smiles of the "experts" - the story of my life! - ended up in a few years with ATKO among the top five of IT companies! With a staff of 250 persons, a five-storey building in a central business location, with a second company for wholesale… It was a very big success!

 

Things were changing, though, at an alarming rate, and suddenly, within a year, the "fat" retail profit margins fell to 3-5%! The company withdrew from retail business, the wholesale company went public and ATKOSoft made its appearance in the field of Medical Informatics, with many projects in the EU and abroad, and with an innovative Patient Medical Record Software.

 

In 2008 I decided that it was time to finally formalize this "love affair" I told you at the beginning: So my teenage love, Wine, was combined with my second one, Informatics, and out of this marriage the House of Wine was born, which very soon became the largest wine e-shop in Greece!

 

Now, after 13 years, having left the House of Wine in the worthy hands of my son Michael, away from businesses and worries, I can  dedicate myself to my great love, the one that had never let me down and I have never betrayed: Wine and everything around it, all the things that makes it precious and unique, a lover, a friend, a companion in both good and bad times.

 

I can now admit that I always looked at the world through a glass of wine; it's so different, and everything seems clear and loud! Maybe that's why "Architecture leads to everything!" And it may not be architecture actually, but the wine that finally achieves this miracle!

 

I would like to share this view of the world through a glass of wine with you! “Through a Wine Glass Everything Seems Possible”! Yes, I'm looking for companions on an endless journey full of adventures!

 

I invite you to this journey. Will you join me?