Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum

Santorini's wine story is unusual enough to deserve a museum, and this is the one. The Koutsoyannopoulos family, winemakers in the village of Vothonas in the centre of the island, built their museum inside a natural cave about eight metres below ground. A winding, labyrinth-like passage some three hundred metres long leads you through the history of island winemaking from the seventeenth century to the 1970s, with life-size scenes, old presses, barrels, tools and figures showing how vine growers lived and worked. You learn why Santorini vines are trained low into basket-shaped coils called kouloures to protect the grapes from the wind, how the volcanic soil kept the island free of phylloxera, why Assyrtiko became the island's signature grape, and how the sweet Vinsanto was made from sun-dried grapes and traded across the Mediterranean. The visit is self-guided with an audio guide available in many languages, or a printed guidebook, and every ticket package includes the museum and a tasting in the estate's tasting room. The simplest package pairs the museum with four wines and a few nibbles; larger packages add more wines and generous platters of island produce, and there are air-conditioned rooms with a sommelier for groups. The cave keeps a steady cool temperature, which is a relief on a hot August afternoon. What really sets it apart from the cliff-top wineries is the calendar. According to the museum's own site it opens every day of the year, with shorter hours from November to March. In winter, when many tasting terraces close, it is one of the most dependable things to do on the island, and its central location makes it easy to combine with Pyrgos, Mesaria or the beaches of Kamari.

Choosing a package: the entry-level option, with museum, audio guide and four wines, is enough for most visitors and is good value by Santorini standards, starting at around thirty euros. Wine lovers who want to understand the range should look at the mid-level tasting with seven wines and a platter, which gives you time to compare dry Assyrtiko, the barrel-aged Nykteri style and the sweet Vinsanto side by side. The top packages are long, lavish sessions more suited to a celebration than a quick stop. Children are welcome in the museum, and the cave scenes hold their attention better than most wine visits; the tasting is of course for adults only.

Practical details: Vothonas sits a short drive south of Mesaria and about ten minutes from Fira by car or taxi, close to the airport road and on the way to Kamari. There is parking at the winery. In the summer season the museum opens from morning to early evening, with a slightly later start on Sundays; from November to March it closes earlier in the afternoon, and the last entrance is an hour before closing in both seasons. If you are not driving, many island tours and private wine tours include a stop here, but a taxi is simple and lets you choose your package. Book ahead for groups or at busy times of the season.

Why it is worth the trip: the cliff-edge wineries sell a view, and that is wonderful, but this visit explains what is in the glass. After an hour underground you will look at the low, wind-shaped vines in the fields around Pyrgos and Megalochori in a completely different way, and you will taste Santorini wines elsewhere with a much better sense of what makes them distinctive. It pairs naturally with an afternoon in Pyrgos, a sunset at Santo Wines or Venetsanos, or a swim at Kamari a few minutes down the road.