Assyrtiko Unbound - on the Trail of Greece's Greatest Variety
Assyrtiko, though native to Santorini and long associated with the islands of the Aegean, has migrated to the mainland and taken quite a hold. The grape has some incredible properties that make it ideal for experimentation. For one, it's remarkably hearty and drought-resistant — a great candidate when considering varieties to plant in non-native regions. Second, from a flavor perspective, it's wonderfully adaptable, reflecting the character of whatever soil it's grown in.
2025 Skouras "Wild Ferment" Assyrtiko Pelopnnese $18.99
Skouras, one of the great producers in the Pelopennese, began experimenting with the grape nearly two decades ago. Planting it in the region of Nemea, known for its high altitude vineyards and iron-rich red clay soils, their version has really taken off.
The new 2025 Skouras Assyrtiko begins with that crunchy mineral character not dissimilar to the ones you find on Santorini, but there is a lifted brighter quality here. Where the ones from Santorini are more glycerol, this has a vibrancy that makes me lean into green apples, fresh squeezed lemons and light nectarine notes. The sensation of minerality finishes though and a plate of oysters is one of the first things that springs to mind. There is much to love with this aperitif style, great as a starter of course or with any grilled fish or shellfish plucked from the nearby Mediterranean.
2023 Alpha Estate "Ecosystem – Aghia Kiriaki" Assyrtiko Florina $31.99
Another great example of mainland Assyrtiko comes from another great modern producer – Alpha Estate. Located in the highlands of Amyndeon, they are most famous for their Xinomavro and Malagouzia wines. But they are making great Assyrtiko as well. Here you have the grape planted in high altitude soils but over sandy-clay and limestone. There is a more unctuous character here that recalls the wines of Santorini with its body but the fruit profile leans more into the tropical. Pineapple, lemon curd and note of passion fruit and a lovely wet stone quality that makes this a comfortable pairing with cheeses, poultry and grilled pork.
2025 Domaine Sigalas Assyrtiko Santorini $74.99
Like Helen of Troy, Sigalas is the wine that launched a thousand ships — mostly ships headed to Santorini. Sigalas remains one of the benchmark producers on the island, and the quality has always been superb. The 2025 vintage saw devastatingly low yields, but we were fortunate to secure a healthy allocation thanks to our long-standing relationship with the importer.
I recently featured Sigalas at a staff training, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. It's always been a favorite, but the 2025 showed impressively well. One note a colleague shared really resonated with me — the wine's texture was unlike anything he'd tasted before, with nothing quite to reference it against. I kept going back to it myself, and it caught my eye — or should I say palate — too. It has a glycerol texture that's somehow sharp and round all at once. Hard to put into words, but the sensation was incredible - like a distillation of the terroir.
This is a young Sigalas that will only benefit from time in bottle, but right now that gorgeous density is accompanied by flavors of roasted peach, watermelon rind, wet rock, watercress, apple jelly. So much happening already, and so much more still to come from this classic.
2024 Akra Chryssos Santorini $85.00
I had the great fortune to visit Santorini last year, and one of my favorite stops was with Spyros Chryssos. Spyros comes from one of the island's great grower families, supplying fruit for years to top producers including Hatzidakis. Only in the last few years has he begun vinifying his own grapes, and it's a revelation. I tasted a lineup that included one of his first vintages, 2018, and was blown away by how much the wine had gained in bottle — but all of his new releases showed real proof of concept. Spyros is someone to watch, and this is a producer worth seeking out.
His regular Santorini bottling comes only from his privately owned vineyards — many producers on the island rely on long-term contracts with other growers — and everything is farmed organically, with no chemical inputs. Handled entirely in stainless steel and aged on fine lees, this is a wine of real tension and nuance: citrus rind, roasted apple, crushed rock. It's everything I want from a Santorini white. Given its ageability, this is a keeper — stunning now, and it should be a true showstopper in just a few more years.
2023 Akra Chryssos Nykteri Assyrtiko Santorini $89.99
Santorini produces a style of white called Nykteri, and its rules are looser than people assume — a minimum alcohol level and a later harvest, which nearly all Santorini wines meet anyway. The one rule with real teeth is a minimum three months in barrel. Traditionally that's led producers to over-age their Nykteris into nutty, oxidative territory.
Akra Chryssos goes the other way. This is as vibrant and lush as the category gets — sourced entirely from 100+ year old vines on one of the island's top sites, it delivers a real symphony: passion fruit, pineapple, dried pear, crème brûlée, lime leaf. Santorini's signature minerality carries the finish and melts seamlessly into toasty oak.
It may not show the typicity people expect from Assyrtiko, but this is next-level work — and worth holding a few more years before drinking with real pleasure.
2025 Hatzidakis "Familia" Assyrtiko Santorini $94.99
Hatzidakis, much like Sigalas, is a name that carries real weight on Santorini, and deservedly so. Founded by the late Haridimos Hatzidakis, one of the island's true pioneers of quality-focused, low-intervention winemaking, the estate is now carried forward by his daughter Stella, who has kept his philosophy intact. This is a producer that farms organically and treats the old vines here with the reverence they deserve.
"Familia" draws from a selection of the estate's own family-owned parcels, some of the oldest and most prized sites they farm, planted in the classic kouloura basket-trained vines that protect the fruit from Santorini's relentless wind and sun. The result is a wine of extraordinary precision showing white peach, preserved lemon, crushed oyster shell, a whisper of fennel. This is all wrapped around that signature volcanic minerality that just seems to keep going on the finish.
This is a serious, cellar-worthy Assyrtiko, and one of the most complete expressions of the grape I've tasted this year. Drink it now alongside grilled octopus or a rich seafood risotto, or tuck a bottle away — it has the structure to reward five, even ten years in the cellar.