Ampelographers believe that Agiorgitiko is indigenous to Greece, likely the Argolis and Corinthia regions of Peloponnese, but while apocryphal tales exist of the grape being cultivated in Ancient Greece, there is no historical or genetic evidence to support those tales. In Nemea, the wine made from Agiorgitiko is nicknamed the "Blood of Hercules" because of the legend that after the Greek hero slayed the Nemean lion, it was the local Nemean wine made from Agiorgitiko that he consumed. (Some versions of the story has Hercules consuming the wine before slaying the lion.) Another legend states that the wine was a palace favorite of king Agamemnon who led the Greek forces during the Trojan War.