Santo in Santorini

After France, the next leg of our honeymoon was in Greece. We visited the beautiful island of Santorini, where grapes have been grown for wine for thousands of years. Unlike pretty much everywhere else in the world, the vines are grown close to the ground and as the vine grows, it gets woven around in a circle to keep the grapes safe from the winds.

The Santo Winery is a cooperative and the largest wine producer on the island. Rather than doing expensive wine tours offered by our hotel, we walked 15 minutes to the winery ourselves. For under 9 euros each, we got a screening of a short film on the history of wine in Santorini and Santo Wines, a private tour around the winery and three tastings each.

Even though the grapes are still picked by hand the same way it has been done for generation after generation, the wine making process at Santo is totally modern. The winery itself is at the top of the cliff overlooking the caldera, a truly beautiful view that didn’t get old the entire time we were on the island.

We asked them to pour 6 different wines and we shared.

Assyrtico 2011: This white wine and one of the most popular indigenous grapes on the island had a citrus smell. The taste was light and refreshing, reminding me of a sauvignon blanc. I really enjoyed it. JC90

Nykteri 2011: Another indigenous grape, this white wine had a wine cellar smell to it. It was more full-bodied and not as smooth. I think this would be better with food. JC87
Ageri semi dry Rose 2011: There were floral and strawberry notes. A somewhat sweet wine with a smooth finish. JC89
Kameni 2010: This dry red wine is aged in oak for 12 months. There was a strong oak smell. A fairly easy drinking wine, however no real flavour. It may do better in the bottle for a little while longer. JC85
Imiglikes 2011: This wine smells and tastes sweet. It is chardonnay-like, but sweeter. The Greek version of semi-sweet is what I’m used to as sweet. JC85

Vinsanto 2004: I get the feeling that this wine is what Santo is most proud of, and they should be given the number of international awards it has won over the years. This wine was aged for three years in oak barrels and is made up of 75% assyrtiko and 25% aidani. The grapes are sun dried for 8-10 days. The wine had an amber colour, reminding me of a well-aged port. It had an oak and caramel scent and a honey and caramel taste. It reminded me of a low alcohol port. JC88

We ended up buying a bottle of the assyrtico to take home with us.