The short answer
Nine Santorini wineries are genuinely set up for visitors, and they are close enough together that you can see them all across two unhurried days. Work from the east coast northwards, come back down the caldera side, and keep the boat to Therasia as a separate half-day. Book ahead, because two of the nine take visitors by appointment only. Expect a tasting to take an hour, so three stops in a day is a full day. And check the calendar before you travel, because several wineries close for the season on 31 October.
If you want to understand the wines themselves first, our Santorini wine guide covers the terroir, the grapes and the styles. This article is about the practicalities of getting to them.
The route, in order
The order below follows the island’s geography rather than any ranking. It starts near the airport and Kamari, runs north along the east coast, crosses to Oia, then comes back down the caldera road to Megalochori and Pyrgos.
1. Gaia Wines, Exo Gonia
An old tomato cannery on the beach at Vrachies, between Kamari and Monolithos, five minutes from the airport. It is the only one of the nine where the sea is directly outside the door, which makes it an easy first stop straight off a flight. Open 29 April to 31 October, daily 12:00 to 20:00. Online booking is recommended and walk-ins depend on availability. Ask for the Thalassitis Assyrtiko.
2. Artemis Karamolegos, Exo Gonia
Ten minutes inland from Gaia, in the village itself. Tastings, a winery tour through the garden, and food pairings built on Santorini dishes made with produce from that garden. The winery does not publish opening hours, so book through its site or call +30 22860 33395. Its restaurant, Aroma Avlis, is next door, which makes this the natural lunch stop of the day.
3. Vassaltis, Vourvoulos
North of Fira on the Vourvoulos to Oia road, and the newest winery of the nine. Modern building, a clear focus on single-vineyard Assyrtiko. Open 11:00 to 20:00; the winery does not publish a season, so confirm before a winter visit. Phone +30 2286 022211.
4. Domaine Sigalas, Oia
On the plain at Baxes, just outside Oia. Paris Sigalas was a mathematician before he was a winemaker, and the estate he founded in 1991 is one of the reasons Santorini Assyrtiko has an international reputation at all. Any visit requires advance booking, and tastings run 11:00 to 18:00. Phone +30 22860 71644. The food-and-wine pairing menu includes a vineyard tour.
If you are continuing to Therasia, this is the moment to go. Ammoudi port sits below Oia, a few minutes away. See the Therasia section below.
5. Venetsanos, Megalochori
Built into the cliff above the caldera in 1949, the first industrial winery on the island, and the most dramatic building of the nine. Gravity does the work: grapes went in at the top, wine came out at the bottom, straight onto boats at Athinios port below. Main terrace daily 11:00 to 20:00, with the last tasting poured at 18:30. The Sunset Terrace runs May to September, 18:00 to 22:00 and is the reason to arrive late rather than early. Reservations desk +30 22860 21100.
6. Santo Wines, Pyrgos
The island cooperative, and the one that handles volume, which is why it is the easiest to visit at short notice and the busiest at sunset. The wine tourism centre is open all year round, with a broad range, an olive oil tasting and a restaurant. Book online, especially for a sunset slot. Phone +30 22860 22596.
7. Hatzidakis, Pyrgos Kallistis
Outside Pyrgos on the road to Emporio, in a cave beneath the family vineyard. Haridimos Hatzidakis replanted an abandoned vineyard here in 1996 and is credited with the island’s first single-vineyard wines; his family continues the work. Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 to 15:30, by appointment only, and it operates year-round including winter. Three tastings are offered: four wines with goat cheese and rusks for €40, six wines with a vineyard visit for €80, and a twelve-wine comparative tasting of old and recent vintages for €160, which must be booked at least a day ahead. From Pyrgos central square it is about a twenty-minute walk.
8. Estate Argyros, Episkopi Gonia
Four generations and some of the oldest ungrafted vines on the island, with a benchmark Vinsanto programme. Two tours are offered, an introduction to the island’s indigenous grapes and a deeper Assyrtiko tasting with regional bites. Hours are not published, so call +30 2286 031489. If you only taste one Vinsanto on Santorini, taste it here.
9. Mikra Thira, Therasia
Not on Santorini at all, which is the point. See below.
The boat to Therasia
Therasia is the small island across the caldera, part of Santorini until the Bronze Age eruption around 1600 BC tore the two apart. It shares the volcanic soil, the old ungrafted vines and the PDO Santorini appellation, and sees a fraction of the visitors. Mikra Thira, founded by Vangelis Gerovassiliou, Vassilis Tsaktsarlis and Ioanna Vamvakouri, is the first winery built there. Its Terrasea bottling comes exclusively from Therasia fruit.
Getting across is simpler than it looks.
- Public ferry from Ammoudi, below Oia, to Riva on Therasia. €1 per person, about ten minutes, tickets on the spot, no booking. March to October it leaves Ammoudi at 08:00, 12:45 and 17:35; December to February at 08:00, 12:35 and 16:25.
- Private taxi boat, roughly €40 each way, booked in advance.
- From Riva to the winery, a free public bus waits beside the port, a local taxi can be booked ahead, or it is a 35-minute walk, about 3 km, to Potamos.
The winery is open 2 April to 31 October, 9:00 to 20:00, closed Tuesdays, with experiences running 09:00 to 18:00. Cancel more than 48 hours ahead for a full refund; inside 48 hours there is none. Outside the season, contact the winery before you plan anything.
Give Therasia a half-day rather than squeezing it between two mainland stops. The crossing, the walk and the tasting fill the time, and the quiet is the reason to go.
What is open in winter
Most Santorini wine tourism is built around the cruise and flight season, and the shoulder months catch visitors out. Here is what the wineries themselves state.
| Winery | Season |
|---|---|
| Santo Wines | open all year round |
| Hatzidakis | year-round, including winter, Tuesday to Saturday, by appointment |
| Gaia Wines | 29 April to 31 October |
| Mikra Thira, Therasia | 2 April to 31 October |
| Vassaltis, Sigalas, Venetsanos, Argyros, Karamolegos | no published season, contact before travelling |
A winter visit is not a consolation prize. The light is better, the roads are empty, and an appointment-only tasting in February is likely to be led by someone with time to talk.
Planning the two days
Day one, east and north. Gaia, then Artemis Karamolegos for lunch, then Vassaltis in the afternoon, finishing at Sigalas near Oia with the light going. Four stops is ambitious; drop one if you want to enjoy it.
Day two, caldera and centre. Venetsanos late morning or, better, late afternoon for the Sunset Terrace, Santo Wines, Hatzidakis in its morning window, and Estate Argyros. Note that Hatzidakis closes at 15:30 and Venetsanos pours its last tasting at 18:30, so these two bookend the day rather than compete.
The half-day. Therasia, on whichever morning you can give it.
Three practical notes matter more than they should. Tastings are poured from late morning, not early; a hire car or a driver is close to essential, since the bus network is built for beaches rather than vineyards; and if you are tasting seriously, one of you is not drinking.
What to ask for at the counter
Ask for an aged Assyrtiko and a Vinsanto side by side. Young Assyrtiko shows the salinity and the acidity that make the island’s reputation. An aged example, five or ten years on, shows what that acidity turns into, which is the part most visitors never see. Vinsanto, from sun-dried grapes, comes from the same vineyards at the opposite extreme. Add a Nykteri, the barrel-aged style, where it is poured.
If a winery offers a vineyard walk, take it. The kouloura, the basket the vines are woven into against the wind, explains more in two minutes standing in a field than any tasting note.
Find the perfect Greek wine for what you’re eating
Use e-SOM, our digital sommelier, to pair Greek wine with your food, or even with your mood. Free, fast, available in English and Greek.
Read next: Santorini Wine: A Complete Guide and What Is Assyrtiko?.
Opening hours, seasons and prices in this article were taken from each winery’s own website in October 2026. They change; confirm with the winery before you travel.