white grape · regional staple
Assyrtiko
Santorini, Greece
Say it
ah·seer·tee·koh
On the palate
lemonlimewet stoneflintsalinitypassionfruit
How you spot it blind: Razor-sharp acidity and volcanic minerality that persist even at full ripeness
The story
Santorini's volcanic ash soil repels phylloxera, leaving Assyrtiko vines ungrafted with root systems exceeding 150 years on the island.
Where it lives
Santorini, Greece · Aegean Islands, Greece · Macedonia, Greece · Peloponnese, Greece
Shows up as
still whitesweetSantorini PDOVinsantoNykteri