Wine, Wine and More Wine!

Our driver for today’s wine tour, Strados, was simply charming and knowledgeable about his subject. After picking up a young honeymooning couple from Nebraska at another hotel, we started the tour in a vineyard to get an up-close look at the basket technique used here in Santorini — and according to Strados, only here.

Young vines are planted upright in the conventional way and irrigated for the first four years, after which irrigation is discontinued. Then the trunk is wound into a circle and the vine is trained that way so over the years it forms a basket. The cluster of leaves protects the grapes from the unrelenting sun. Harvesting happens in August, otherwise the grapes would turn into raisins.

We visited three wineries on this tour; the first was Hatzidakis, where the winemaker’s daughter has just taken over the reins.

The second winery, Santos, is the largest producer on the island. Our lovely tasting included cheeses, grapes, cold meats and a delicious chokeberry jam, and the tasting area was in the form of a restaurant with great views over the caldera.

Our final stop was back at Anhydrous, scene of our cooking class on Sunday, where we feasted on tapas. I begged for the recipe for the gyro/moussaka pita (below left) and was grudgingly given it. I think I’ll have to experiment with that a bit, since the chef provided neither quantities nor technique.

All in all, a great day of wine tasting with a gregarious and fun guide. guide and our new young friends from Nebraska!.