Vineyards by chrissyalex
There are many vineyards scattered throughout the island. Their abundance give Santorini a much greener appearance than Mykonos.Three different varieties of grapes are grown to make the famous white wines this island is known for. A few of these wines are Nichteri ,which has the highest concentration of alcohol,Kalliste, which is aged in a smoked wooden barrel and Via Santo , a sweet wine that is also used sometimes in the churches for communion.
You can visit some of these wineries for tastings and also to see how the wines are traditionally made. The most famous winery is Boutari in Megalohori, which is located on the road to the town of Perissa. However, we did not visit any of the wineries as we could not find any bus transportation to visit them. If you have a car or a scooter, it may be a nice thing to do. I talked to some people who visited Boutari and they said it is wonderful. The winery is also included as a stop on one of the bus tours of Santorini...but we chose to see the island by the local buses.Something interesting you may notice in this picture. The grapes are not tied. They grow freely and while traveling around the island, it seemed that this is how all the grapes are grown.
We were not sure why. We pondered about it and the guess we came up with is that it may be because there are very few trees on the island , so maybe years ago,wood for stakes was hard to come by. This is just our guess...if anyone knows the reason for this tradition..please Email me.
