Tastings, courses and structured sessions in Santorini that teach you the region in a glass.
Tastings, courses and structured sessions in Santorini that teach you the region in a glass.
Santo Wines runs a structured tasting programme on the caldera terrace teaching the kouloura basket-vine system, PDO Santorini classification and Vinsanto production. Daily walk-in tastings cover 6 to 12 wines per flight.
The Koutsogiannopoulos Wine Museum combines a self-paced audio tour of the 300-metre cave winemaking exhibition with a structured tasting at the bar. Visitors learn 400 years of Santorini vine-grower history before sampling estate wines.
Domaine Sigalas runs a two-hour master class covering Santorini's PDO classification, the kouloura basket-vine system and the family's experimental Mavrotragano programme. Tastings progress through 8 wines including library Vinsanto.
The Argyros Vinsanto Vertical compares 4-, 12- and 20-year-old Vinsanto bottlings from the estate's library. Mathaios Argyros and the cellar team explain the sun-drying process, oak ageing and the 200-year-old ungrafted vineyards.
Venetsanos Winery runs a guided cellar tour explaining the gravity-flow production system built into the caldera cliff in 1947. The structured tasting concludes on the upper terrace overlooking the volcano and Athinios port.
Peak wine-travel season in Santorini is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Santorini rewards trust.