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Greek wineries join forces to deliver island Assyrtiko

Four Greek wineries are joining forces to revive the assyrtiko vineyards of Thirassia, Harper’s can reveal. The move comes amid soaring prices for Santorini assyrtiko - with prices reported to have risen by 288% in the past six years - and the increasing difficulty of vineyard expansion on the main island.

The four wineries involved are Ktima Gerovassiliou from Thessaloniki, Biblia Chora from Kavala, Gaia Wines, which owns wineries in Nemea and Santorini, and Vassaltis Vineyards, the newest winery on Santorini.

The owners of Gaia, Gerovassiliou and Vassaltis have collectively purchased 8ha of vineyard land on Thirassia and have applied for EU approval to plant vines on that land. Meanwhile Vangelis Gerovassiliou of Ktima Gerovassiliou and Vassilis Tsaktsarlis of Biblia Chora have teamed up with Santorini-based oenologist Ioanna Vamvakouri to build a brand new winery on Thirassia, called Ktima Mikra Thira.

Expected to be built within the next 18 months, this will be the first ever commercial winery on the sparsely populated landmass.

Ktima Mikra Thira will produce its first vintage of Thirassia dry assyrtiko this year, using grapes from a 2ha vineyard Vamvakouri purchased one year ago, along with grapes purchased from selected Thirassia growers. The wine, which will be made on the main island, will still qualify for the Santorini PDO, however all of the grapes will come from Thirassia.

Thirassia is part of the Santorini island complex but became separated from the main island by the Thera eruption – the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history - in c.1628BC. Vines have long been cultivated on the island, however, and the volcanic terroir is much the same as on the main island. Around 30ha of land on Thirassia are currently planted to vine, with capacity for planting up to 90ha, according to Vamvakouri.

“Thirassia is the new thing,” says Iannis Paraskevopoulos, co-founder of Gaia Wines. “We have all purchased land on Thirassia and we are hoping that the EU will allow us to plant. The idea is to go over there and revive the Thirassian vineyards. We hope we’ll be successful. First we need to go by the EU legislation and finally get accredited for planting vines. We’re not there yet. I hope this year that we will be given the right for planting.”

The move comes amid huge global demand for Santorini assyrtiko and rapidly increasing grape prices on the island. In the past eight to 10 years, Santorini has become one of the most expensive places in the world to make wine. According to Paraskevopoulos, the price of grapes in Santorini has increased by 288% in the past six years.

Ktima Gerovassiliou, Biblia Chora and Gaia Wines are currently represented in the UK by Hallgarten & Novum Wines.

• wine
• Greek Wine
• Santorini