Santo Wines Winery & Caldera Tasting Terrace

Santorini has been making wine for thousands of years, and its vineyards are among the strangest and oldest in Europe. The volcanic soil, made of ash, pumice and lava, is so poor and so dry that the vine pest phylloxera never took hold, so many vines grow on ancient roots; and to protect them from the fierce summer winds, growers train them into low, round baskets called kouloures, with the grapes hanging inside, sheltered from wind and sand. The star grape is Assyrtiko, which makes bone-dry, mineral, high-acid white wines with a salty edge that have become some of the most admired whites in the world. The island is also famous for Vinsanto, a protected sweet wine made from grapes dried in the sun and aged for years, deep amber and tasting of raisins, figs and caramel. Santo Wines is the best place to start. It is the winery of the union of Santorini cooperatives, which brings together hundreds of local grape growers, and its building, opened in 1992, sits on the caldera edge just outside Pyrgos, with a huge terrace looking straight across the bay to the volcano and the villages of the rim. Tastings are tailor-made: you can choose a flight of wines in different styles or pick from the full list, often with local cheeses, capers, cherry tomatoes and fava to go with them, and a vinotheque holds rarer older vintages. There is also a restaurant using produce from cooperative members, an olive oil tasting of the cooperative's own oils, and a shop of island products. The terrace is busiest at sunset, when the view becomes the main event, and reservations through the winery booking system are strongly recommended for that slot.

Planning your visit: book online through the winery's own booking pages for wine tastings, the restaurant or the olive oil tasting, and request a sunset slot well in advance from June to September. Midday visits are quieter and better if you want to talk to the staff about the wines rather than watch the sky. Remember that you will be drinking: take a taxi, a transfer or an organised wine tour rather than driving, and remember that taxis are in short supply around sunset.

What to taste: start with a pure Assyrtiko, perhaps one from old vines or aged on its lees, then compare it with a Nykteri, the traditional style once made from grapes picked at night and aged in barrel, and finish with a Vinsanto of several years ageing. Red wines from the local Mavrotragano grape are worth trying too. Santo also produces local products, from capers and caper leaves to fava from the island yellow split peas and sun-dried cherry tomatoes, all good souvenirs that pack easily.

Beyond Santo: Santorini has more than a dozen wineries open for visits, from small family estates around Megalochori, Pyrgos and Exo Gonia to wineries built into old canavas, the traditional cave cellars. If you want to visit several, a small-group wine tour or a guided island day tour with a winery stop takes care of the driving. Many wineries reduce their hours or close for part of the winter, so check before you go between November and March.