Wine making in Santorini dates back thousands of years to the 3rd millenium B.C..
Assyrtiko is the most popular white grape variety, which thrives in its homeland, the volcanic land of Santorini. As a single variety or blended with the aromatic Athiri and the delicate Aidani gives the Protected Designation of Origin Santorini wines: Santorini Assyrtiko, Santorini Nykteri and Vinsanto the traditional dessert wine made from sun-dried grapes.
Santorini wines combine the high acidity with the intense minerality in the mouth. They are vibrant, full-bodied, with citrus fruits aromas. After ageing, they get more complex as the notes of oak, tea and honey are dominant.
Santorini’s Assyrtiko, the white wine for which the island has become known, is the island’s essence in a bottle. A sip of the wine delivers a bracingly refreshing punch of citrus and the aromas that waft from its surface smell of the sea and the cliffs that surround the water.
One of the most amazing things to notice when you visit a winery in Santorini is the way the vines grow. Unlike the majority of vineyards around the world, where the vines grow in rows along trellises, in Santorini, the vines grow in tight bunches, packed close to the earth along the rocks, as if seeking as much shelter as they can get from the strong gusts of sea air. It is this sea air, along with the soil that is rich in volcanic ash that imparts the refreshing acidity for which the wine has become so well known. Many believe it is this volcanic ash that allows the grapes grown on Santorini to retain their acidity, even when they are fully ripe, about to burst open with sugary juice.
Whether you plan to visit the island in person, or visit it via a bottle of its wine, here are the wineries from Santorini you should be looking for:
ESTATE ARGRYOS
The family that owns Estate Argryos has been producing wine on the island for over a century, and that history can be seen with every sip of their wine. A visit to the vineyard means a stop in the winery’s tasting room. You may find the winery at the following address: Episkopi Gonias, 84700, Phone: +30-22860-31489 and email: info@estate-argyros.com
Collectiveness, Quality, Authenticity, Sustainability
The Union of Santorini Cooperatives, SantoWines was founded in 1947. Today, it consists of the largest organization of the island representing all the cultivators and counting 1.200 active members. SantoWines is committed to safeguarding the local traditional cultivations , producing highest quality Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Santorini wines and products as well as promoting sustainable agriculture development.
SantoWines’ R&D invests in the ongoing development of cultivation and vinification techniques, while it aims at the preservation of the biodiversity through the operation of a nursery of autochthonous varieties, a solid base for study and trial cultivation of local grapes.
The traditional cultivations of the farmers-members of our cooperative, guarantee the authenticity and the premium quality of our products.
The promotion of all Santorini products is the most important mission of the Cooperative. PDO Santorini wines, PDO Santorini Tomato, PDO Santorini Fava, capers, caper leaves, as well as local sweet preserves, like tomato or Koufeto belong to the wide range of the Santo products of pure Santorini taste that is available for everyone to enjoy!
You can find us at the following address: Pirgos Santorini, 84701, Phone: +30 22860 22596 and email: promo@santowines.
The company was founded in 1991, under the name SIGALAS WINERY Ltd. The winery was initially located in the traditional canava of the Sigalas family. In 1998, a new production, bottling and aging facility was constructed, located in a privately owned area. Since then, and after continuous investment in modernization and expansion of the facilities, the company has a processing and bottling production capacity of 300,000 bottles annually.
The winery is open to the public and the visitor can tour the areas and become acquainted with the taste of the Santorini wines as well as sample the culinary delights of the Cyclades, since there is a wine tasting room which can hold as many as 40 guests.
The scenic location of the winery and the positioning of the wine tasting room to the west, affords the opportunity to all guests to enjoy the colours of the setting sun as it descends on the vineyard.
You can find us at the following address: Baxes, Oia Santorini
PC 84702, Phone: +30 22860 71644 and email: info@sigalas-wine.com
Our winery is situated on a beach, on the east side of the island, between Kamari and Monolithos settlements. This industrial stone building used to be a tomato factory, built in the beginning of the 1900s. With great joy we have renovated this rare, charming building, giving it new life as a winery.
Today, the high-tech equipment and the cutting edge facilities of our winery guarantee contemporary winemaking and ideal conditions for high quality production. THALASSITIS, THALASSITIS OAK FERMENTED and ASSYRTIKO by GAIA – Wild Ferment are the products of this unique winery….ex-tomato factory.
At the same time, in a discrete out-of-the-way vault, we have set up a small oxidization area where we are delighted to produce our rare, sweet, aromatic Assyrtiko vinegar. Small quantities (around 1,500 litres) are bottled annually after five years of ageing in oak barrels in our special cellars.
The winery is open to visitors daily from May to October. You can find us at the following address: Exo Gonia, 847000, Phone: +30 22860 34186 and email: gaiawine@otenet.gr
The old, pre-industrial winery of 1861 closed its doors in 1952, when its third owner, Nikolaos A. Argyros, founded the Union of Cooperatives for Products of Thira and the biggest winery on the island, now known as SantoWines.
In 1999, his son, Antonis N. Argyros, brings it back to life and founds Art Space. The chambers of the old winery are restored and used as a museum to remind us of the history of wine and the craftsmanship employed when it was made.
The adjacent underground cavern of the old barn is chosen as the new winery. The entrance to this cave is 8 metres below the surface of the earth while the depth at the end of the cave reaches 11 metres. The dominant material is a dense layer of pumice, 6 metres thick, which is in itself a unique insulating material, thus constituting the perfect environment for the maturation and ageing of the wine.
The second significant advantage is the altitudinal difference, which made “vertical vinification” possible. The vinification takes place on three different levels and makes use of gravity and natural flow, without the use of pumps.
Although Art Space Winery is small, it is a labour of love while making use of ultra modern technology and clearly shows preference to “quality” over ‘quantity’. Its modern equipment includes special tanks for pre-fermentation cold socking, stain steel fermentation tanks, cooling equipment for temperature control throughout the production process as well as oak barrels for the maturation of the wine.
You can find us at the following address: Exo Gonia, 847000, Phone: +30 22860 32774 or +30 6932 899 509 and email: info@artspace-santorini.com