Visit 3 Santorini’s top wineries, and enjoy cellar tours of each one to see how the winemaking process unfolds. Take a walking tour around one of the volcanic vineyards to discover the grapes growing in unforgiving island conditions. Savor up to 12 different wine styles from across Santorini and Greece, such as Assyrtiko, Nykteri, and the sublimely sweet Vinsanto wine.
The wine museum is located in a natural cave eight meters below ground. It is the only one of its kind in Greece and it took the Koutsoyannopoulos family, fourth-generation wine makers, 21 years to build it. The visitors of the museum have the opportunity to learn about the history of wine and the life of vine-growers in Santorini since the 1660s through an automatic audio guide, available in 14 languages or a guidebook, available in 22 languages. At the end of the tour, wines produced in Koutsoyannopoulos winery are available for tasting in the winery’s tasting room.
Argyros Estate was founded in 1903 by Georgios Argyros and is located in a vineyard extension of 20 acres, in Episkopi Gonia, in Thira. Georgios Argyros followed the traditional vinification way of Santorini, in order to produce wines destinated for local market distribution. In 1950, the winery was undertaken by Matthaios Argyros who continued the tradition of his father and increased the cultivated area up to 60 acres. The greatest breakthrough was done by Yiannis Argyros to whom passed the management of the winery in 1974. Yiannis Argyros increased the arable land up to 260 acres, by revitalizing the winery and worked really hard to assure the growth of high quality raw material. The vines are self-rooted, trained in the traditional “kouloura” (basket shape) and are located at an altitude of 35-150 meters, with eastern-southeastern orientation.
Venetsanos winery is located right above the port of Athinios, overlooking the magnificent caldera of Santorini. The Venetsanos family has a very long tradition in producing wine. Originally was produced for the island and subsequently it was exported extensively, and particularly to countries such as Russia. It was built in 1947 by Venetsanos family and became the first industrial winery on the island. Its most distinguished feature is the structural design, which essentially used gravity, facilitating energy efficiency, at a time when access to electricity and other energy sources was very limited. The winery was built in an unconventional manner constructed from above and moving downwards.