Santorini Island Things to Do Tips by johngayton

For those of us who enjoy a bit of local flavour then a visit or two to the local vineyards here on Santorini is a bit of a must do, purely of course to expand one’s cultural experience ;) And culture is what it’s all about: Santorini wines are pretty much unique in that the micro-climate here on the Island, with no fresh water supplies and an arid and hot windy environment for much of the year, means that the grapevines themselves are grown in a particular manner. Unlike European vines, whose parallel upright lines can occupy whole south-facing banks of their respective valleys in a perfectly regimental fashion; those here on the Island are by necessity trained to form horizontal wreathlike-like stalks with almost random bush-like coverage rarely exceeding a meter in height and sprawl almost weed-like in the ashen soil , often in fields no bigger than perhaps half a soccer pitch .

The only watering that most of the vineyards get is the early morning dewy distillation as the pre-dawn sea mists roll across, their moisture being absorbed by the volcanic pumice embedded in the lava rock undercore, captured in the coolness before the mists are sunburnt by the dawn of the day.

What this effectively means is that whilst an average, say Rhone Valley vineyard, can produce as much as 4000 kilos of grapes per acre, here on Santorini a maximum yield will be about 10% of this and thus the Santorini winemakers must concentrate on producing only quality wines rather than just those for mass consumption.

There are a total, at last count, of 10 wineries here on the Island, several of which have “open” wine-tasting sessions certainly during the summer and all of which are more than happy to arrange group tours - for more definitive info pick up a free copy of the “Santorini Guidebook” or visit www.santorini.net which has a downloadable PDF file

Leave a Comment

Address: All Over The Place!!
Directions: For directions for the various wineries check out the second link:
Website: www.greekwinemakers.com/czone/regions/santo.shtml
Other Contact: www.santorini.net

Assyrtico is THE Santorini grape, accounting for about four-fifths of the total grape production and strangely enough the Greek name: “Assyrtico” invokes the English; “assertive”, producing wines with a very front of palate, almost acid, fruit especially noticeable in those wines unblended taken from the first natural pressing of the grape - a perfect example of this is the “Lava White” from the Koutsogiannopolous winery (see relevant tip for details).

Santorini’s most famous wine is the controlled appellation “Vinsanto”, which must by law contain a minimum of 80% of the Assyrtico grape, and is particular in that the grapes are sun-dried for up to 15 days before being crushed and fermented. The wines are then barrel-aged for several years, sometimes as long as 6, producing a rich, sweet, honey-coloured wine which, whilst relatively low in alcohol (usually about 10%), developes a flavour as distinct as the fortified wines of Portugal, Spain and Madiera. Vinsanto is often used, both locally and further afield, as a communion wine and is also ideal chilled as a dessert wine.

The other Santorini appellation is the Nykteri wines (literally “of the night’), which once again are produced predominantly from the Assyrtico grape. These wines are unique in that the production is carried out at night, perhaps to maximise the moisture content, producing distinct fruity wines which can be either bottled fresh or barrel-aged (the Vareli being the barreled). The resulting wines are once again characterized by the acid fruitiness of the grape, the un-oaked wines having a very clean palate, though personally I kindof liked the oaked one that I tried at Gavala, the barreling adding a touch of complexity which suits my personal tastes.

Leave a Comment

Address: As above - all over the Island.
Directions: See 2nd website.
Website: www.greekwinemakers.com/czone/regions/santo.shtml
Other Contact: www.santorini.net

Oia (or just plain Ia as it is sometimes referred to in true Greek fashion) is the village on the Northern tip of the island, about 11 km from Fira, and is justifiably famous for its sunsets. As a village it is quite pleasant, though perhaps a little too touristy in the summer, but then aren't they all? There's some decent bars and restaurants and a regular bus service to and from Fira and so is well worth a little afternoon/evening trip out to.

One thing about the sunsets though is that the prime viewing position (or at least what everyone seems to consider to be so) gets very crowded but a short walk down the footpath takes one away from the madding crowd and the view is just as good - and there's even a windmill to silhouette the view - can you say "silhouette the view"? Ach, maybe not but I just did so there! NaNaNa!

Leave a Comment

Address: Oia Village, Santorini (or Ia village Thira!)
Directions: As north as you can get on the island.
Website: http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorini/santorini-villages/oia-santorini.htm

...but let's get back to the wineries!!

So there was me in charge of this little tour group of a trio of wineries here - HA! Who in their right mind would put ME in charge of a winery tour??? Well Gala had faith in me and Nancy took the "before photo" - NO WAY am I going to show the after one!!!

Fortunately I had my VA Jill (Jelw) to look after and so I had to keep relatively sober - you know what these VA's can be like and so here she is, attempting single-handedly to drink Koutsogiannopoulos dry - HA - that might even be spelt ""Koutsogiannopolous" WOW!! I got the spelling right twice - must be spelt differently in Greek!!!

Running out of words, but never running out of "characters" (2047 MAX!!) and so continue with next tip....

Leave a Comment

Our first port of call (at about 11 am!!) and my first experience of Santorini wines. Here at Koutsogiannopolous they not only make the wine but also have an underground wine museum with its history bits (HIC! Can't remember much about that bit, but by all accounts there was some deal with the Russians who would exchange the wine in goatskins for wood to make barrels with and so facilitate the trade - I do remember something about 11,000 litre barrels tho' - but as I pointed out that's only a 2 week supply!

The museum itself is a bit on the naff side with its nodding donkeys etc but my first taste of the Lava White certainly awoke the taste buds - first pressing and natural fermentation, certainly cleansed the palate - Jill certainly enjoyed her 6 (YEP SIX!!) glasses. A couple of other decent wines and at 2.50 euros for 3 tasters including the museum tour is well worth a visit - go earlyish on a Sunday morning.

Leave a Comment

Phone: 22860 31322
Address: Main road to Kamari Beach
Directions: Ach, there's not that many roads and so should be easy to find! It might even be signposted but probably spelt differently!!

Website is general info - click on wineries:
Website: www.santorini.net

This is where the absolutely delicous little guide explained about the "canava" and how all the merchant houses had the thick roofs and the tapered walls, natural ventilation - yep everyone should have one (forget about the French underground caves - get youself a Canava!!).

Crusty bits of bread and some decent samples - HIC! HIC! I think they gave us a bit more that the normal quota - but the usual price, at the time of writing, was 3 euros for 3 samples and some nibbly bits thrown in.

By all accounts if you happen to visit during the grape-crushing season you might be invited to take your shoes and socks off and add your own personal bit of flavour to next year's vintage!!!

Leave a Comment

Phone: 22860 82552
Address: Just Off The Square in Melagorichi...
Directions: ...follow the signs - every one leads to the vinyard!!! Or follow your nose!!

Not only that but the village is well worth a visit - drop into one of the local tavernas on the square have a BEER ;)
Website: www.santorini.net

SIGALAS!!

This was great, perfect finale to our very short tour, sitting nibbling on superb cheeses in the portico dappled afternoon sun - we certainly got some "arty" photos here - the wine cheese still nibbles on my palate as I write.

I didn't really do very much as the so-called "tour leader" - Gala did all the hard work and what a perfect place to end our little Sunday outing - we are now all so chilled-out.

I remember the cheeses better than the wines but I do sort of recall that here at Sigalas they were experimenting with the idea of growing the vines upright in the European (or pretty much anywhere else in the world) tradition.

Yep, well worth the visit - I think it was 90 cents (euro) per taste and 5 euro for the cheese - hey forget the wine, eat the cheese - absolutely delish!!!

HIC!

And I was actually sober (ish) enough to still be dancing at 2 Brothers at 4 am!!

Leave a Comment

Phone: 22860 71644
Address: From Finikia towards Baxedes
Directions: As with every where else, once you get close you see the signs - if you find yourself in the sea then you took the wrong turn!!
Website: www.santorini.net

It really was fascinating to walk on what is one of the world's youngest landmasses and to observe, and photograph, the lava formations some as recent as 50 years ago. What I did find of exceptional interest tho' was the way that the barren, arid, landscape is slowly but surely evolving as wild flowers take root in the volcanic ash and struggle to live and to seed and thus attract the birds whose guano will provide the necessary nutrients for the next generations.

On the island itself there is a hiking trail which takes you through the main features and around the central crater. There is a small charge which contributes towards the upkeep of the pathway and a useful little brochure detailing the main features.

Note to self: MUST do a travelogue on this!!

Leave a Comment

Address: Nea Kameni of Course!!
Directions: There are several companies who do boat trips from Thira to Nea Kameni - try the link below:
Website: http://www.santorini.ws/boat_trips.htm

Claus noticed this place as we sailed into the harbour here on Thirassia (how many "s"'s in Thirasia??) and so it just had to be done after our excellent lunch at the restaurant on the top of the mule trail!

Beer was cold, the sun hot, the bar shady and it was right next to the dock for the boat back to Thira - well that's our excuse for the 2nd and 3rd beers anyway ;)

Leave a Comment

Address: Thirasia
Directions: Part of the sunken volcano rim