Santorini grows its vines in a basket woven flat on the ground, on an island that phylloxera never reached, from roots that in places are centuries old. You can taste that in a glass of Assyrtiko in twenty minutes. Understanding why takes a tour.
Three estates, twelve wines and a guide who knows what Assyrtiko does in volcanic ash. Cheese and cold cuts with the tastings, hotel pickup by Mercedes van, and an evening option that ends at the cliff. Adults only, fifteen maximum.
From $177 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The same twelve tastings across three country wineries, timed so the last stop is the cliff-top estate at sunset, with a cheese and charcuterie platter. Eighteen and over, hotel pickup, fifteen maximum.
From $201 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
One estate, one hour and three quarters, and a proper lunch instead of a cracker. You make your own way to Exo Gonia. Twelve maximum, adults only.
From $130 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four and a half hours at a farm above Megalochori with a cooking class, lunch and wine. Pickup is a separate twenty-five euros, so plan a taxi. Twelve maximum, and it runs in any weather.
From $100 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The premium lunch tasting at Artemis Karamolegos is the short one: two hours, capped at 12, and you meet the guide at the winery rather than waiting for a bus.
See prices and datesThree of the four are winery circuits with a driver. You are collected, taken to two or three producers, poured a flight at each and returned. The fourth is a family farm where you cook as well as taste.
None of them is a bar crawl. The pours are structured, the guide explains the appellation, and the sunset ones time the last stop for the view west over the caldera.
PDO Santorini has to be at least 75% Assyrtiko, with Athiri and Aidani making up the rest. The three classified wines are Santorini, Nykteri and Vinsanto, and you will meet all three on most itineraries. What Assyrtiko is, and why the island keeps planting it, is set out on the highlights page.
Growers train the canes into a low coiled basket called a kouloura and leave it unstaked on the ground. The fruit sits inside, sheltered from the wind and the sun. You will walk past a hundred of them before you realise what you are looking at.
Its volcanic soils hold none of the clay the parasite needs, so many vines here are own-rooted and ungrafted. That is rare enough in Europe to be worth the trip on its own, and every guide on this list will show you a root system.
That is the honest reason to book. Two of these tours pour twelve tastings across three producers, and a driver is not optional after that. The fare buys you the flights and the transport together.
Planted area has fallen from around 2,500 hectares in the 1960s to roughly 900 today, and Assyrtiko production dropped from 2,500 tonnes in 2022 to 500 tonnes in 2025. Prices in the tasting room reflect that. The things-to-do page puts the vineyards next to the rest of the island.
The four split cleanly into two kinds of afternoon. Three take you to commercial producers with a view. One keeps you in one place and puts you to work.
| Winery circuit | Farm and cooking class | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 2 to 4 hours | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| From | $130.22 | $100.63 |
| Group cap | 12 to 15 | 12 |
| Producers visited | One to three | One farm |
| Tastings poured | Up to 12 on the longest | Wine with the meal |
| Food | Tapas or a plated lunch | The meal you cook |
| Pickup | Hotel or Airbnb, included on two | At the farm, pickup EUR 25 extra |
| Sunset timed | On two of the three | No |
| Suits | Tasting widely, seeing the vineyards | Cooking, families, one place properly |
Check availability on Santorini Family Farm Food & Wine Tour with Cooking Class
Two of these end at sunset, and sunset here moves by three and a half hours across the year. In June the last stop is near 20:35; in October it is closer to 18:45. Your confirmation carries the real pickup time, and it changes with the month.
Eat something first. Twelve tastings across three wineries is a genuine amount of wine, and the tapas arrive at the end rather than the start on the longest itinerary.
Sources disagree on how many wineries the island has — about 18 in 2025, down from roughly 21 two years before. Either way, a tour that visits three has covered a meaningful share of them.
If you want one long lunch with a view, book a table rather than a tour. The circuits move, and you will be back in the minibus 40 minutes after the first pour.
If you are travelling with children, the cooking class is the only one of the four built for a family afternoon. The others are tastings with transport.
If your budget matters more than the wine, the island drives include a winery stop for a fraction of these prices. You get one tasting instead of twelve.
Twelve tastings, tapas and the sunset, with pickup from anywhere on the island and a group capped at 15.
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