Santorini Highlights Cultural Wine Scene
Santorini's cultural scene shines with volcanic wines at Santo Winery and Maritime Museum's seafaring history. Explora Journeys offers Mediterranean culture, cuisine, and coastal adventures. New data shows that booking flights and traveling on Fridays can save up to 8% on total airfare costs, overturning old wisdom about booking far in advance.
- The unique flavor profile of Santorini's wine, often described as having high acidity with citrus and mineral notes, comes from its volcanic soil, which is a mixture of ash, pumice stone, and solidified lava. This soil is also immune to phylloxera, a pest that destroys grapevines, allowing many of the island's vine roots to be centuries old. - Santo Winery, founded in 1947 as the Union of Santorini Cooperatives, now includes 1,200 active members and is committed to preserving traditional viticulture. The winery itself, opened in 1992, is built on multiple levels, using gravity to move the grape must instead of pumps, which saves energy. - The island's primary grape, Assyrtiko, must constitute at least 85% of any wine labeled "PDO Santorini". Grape growers use a distinctive vine-training system known as "koulara," where the vines are woven into a basket shape close to the ground to protect them from strong winds. - Santorini is also known for a sweet dessert wine called Vinsanto, a tradition dating back centuries. To produce it, grapes (at least 51% Assyrtiko) are sun-dried for up to 14 days and then aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years. - The Maritime Museum in Oia is housed in a 19th-century captain's house and was founded in 1956 by Captain Antonis Dakronias, who began collecting the items in 1951. - Museum exhibits showcase the island's naval prosperity in the 19th century and include rare figureheads, sailors' chests, shipbuilding tools, and models of ships owned by islanders who transported goods like Santorini wine to Russia and pozzolana for the construction of the Suez Canal. - Explora Journeys' itineraries in Santorini offer experiences such as private wine tastings in the village of Pyrgos, early-access tours to Oia to avoid crowds, and chef-led farm-to-table brunches at cliffside estates.
