Santorini wine comes from vines that look like nothing else in Europe. There are no rows, no trellises and no wires. The vines are woven by hand into low circular baskets that sit on the ground, called kouloura, with the grapes growing on the inside of the coil.
Why the baskets
Two reasons, both brutal. The meltemi blows hard across a flat, treeless island and would shred an upright vine, so the basket keeps the fruit low and shielded. And it almost never rains between May and September, so the grapes rely on moisture that condenses out of the night air onto the leaves and drains inward.
Each basket takes years to train and is rewoven as it ages. Some root systems here are said to be several hundred years old, because phylloxera, the louse that destroyed most of Europe’s vineyards in the 19th century, cannot survive in the sandy volcanic ash.
What Assyrtiko tastes like
Sharp. Assyrtiko is the island’s main white grape and it keeps its acidity even in extreme heat, which is unusual, so the wine comes out bone dry, high in acid, with citrus and a distinct salty, mineral finish that people argue about endlessly.
It is the best possible partner for the local food, and it ages far better than most people expect. A five-year-old bottle is a different and better drink.
Vinsanto
The island’s sweet wine, and the older tradition. Grapes are left in the sun for a week or two to shrivel and concentrate, then fermented and aged in barrel for years, sometimes decades. It is dark amber, tastes of dried figs and caramel, and is not remotely like the Italian wine with a similar name.
Buy it at a winery rather than a gift shop. The difference is severe.
Wineries worth the trip
- Santo Wines at Pyrgos: the big cooperative, an enormous terrace facing the caldera, and the most crowded. Good introduction, book the sunset slot weeks ahead.
- Venetsanos above Athinios port: built into the cliff in 1947 so gravity could move the wine downhill through the building. Worth seeing for the architecture alone.
- Domaine Sigalas near Oia: serious wine, quieter setting, and the tastings are led by people who will happily argue with you.
- Art Space at Exo Gonia: a winery in an old cave with contemporary sculpture in it, run by one family.
Practical
Tastings run roughly 11am to sunset and the caldera-facing ones fill first. Do not drive between more than two. The island’s roads are narrow, the police do check, and taxis are famously scarce, so a hired driver for a wine afternoon is the normal arrangement rather than an indulgence.
Harvest is early here, usually August, weeks before the mainland.
Scope of this page
It is about wine. This agency operates in Athens and Mykonos and nowhere else, has no representative on Santorini, and arranges nothing on the island. See Athens for the capital.
