Assyrtiko

Assyrtiko is the most striking white grape of Greece, an indigenous variety of Santorini and the ‘prima donna’ of the island, producing both dry and sweet wines, and accounting for 65% to 70% of the total 1.100 hectares of plantings. Gazing the old, ungrafted, basket-trained vines, some of them sitting on 400 year-old roots, it feels like Assyrtiko vines were grown in Santorini forever. Assyrtiko in Santorini produces world class white wines of high acidity and pronounced mineral character, salinity and unripe citrus fruits. The grape is planted all over the islands and the rest of the country yielding there wines that are are less mineral, more fruity and less acidic. The variety has also produced top quality oak matured wines of great balance and complexity with the best examples coming from Santorini Island as well as from the rest of Greece. Both styles oaked or not show solid aging potential.