A history spanning millennia

Viticulture in Greece truly has a history stretching back thousands of years. The oldest wine residues in Europe, confirmed by chemical analysis, were discovered at the prehistoric settlement of Dikili Tash in northern Greece; these residues originate from a Neolithic-era house destroyed by fire around 4300 BC. Tartaric acid, malic acid and traces of fermentation extracted from a fragment of a clay vessel confirmed archaeologists’ long-held assumptions, wine production in the Aegean region began several millennia before the great civilisations of antiquity emerged. By the 2nd millennium BC, the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations were already exporting wine throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. By the Classical period, wines from the islands of Chios, Thasos, Lesbos and Mentes had become a widely recognised commodity, and city-states even stamped two-handled jugs as a primitive form of designation of origin.

This was followed by a period of two prolonged declines. The Roman conquest in the 2nd century BC led to Roman wines supplanting Greek exports. From 1453 onwards, Ottoman rule reduced the scale of commercial winemaking to a level of purely local production. By the time Greece gained independence in 1830, most of its agricultural land had long been abandoned, and the phylloxera epidemic in the late 19th century destroyed most of the remaining vineyards. The island of Santorini is a notable exception, as will be detailed below.

The revival of modern Greek winemaking is a very recent phenomenon, and its development can be traced quite clearly. For most of the 20th century, Greek wines were regarded as cheap and of little interest. the market was largely controlled by large cooperatives focused on production volume, and the best-known export wine was Retsina. The turning point came in 1971, when the first official appellations of origin (AOCs) were established in Greece. The wine-growing regions of Naoussa, Nemea, Mantinia and Santorini took the French AOC model as their template, providing quality-oriented producers with a regulatory framework to follow.

In 1981, Greece joined the EU, leading to an influx of investment and gradual modernisation. By the 1980s, a new generation of estate-based wineries, such as Boutari, Gerovassiliou, Sigalas and Hatzidakis, began to focus on local grape varieties and quality-oriented wine production. It is this generational shift that forms the basis of modern high-quality wine production in Greece.

Diversity in figures

By global standards, Greece is a small wine-producing nation. The total area of vineyards dedicated to wine production is around 64,000 hectares, a figure that has remained broadly stable in recent years. Average annual production over the last few years has ranged from 1.7 to 2.3 million litres, placing Greece 17th in the world. The country has around 1,600 wineries, of which approximately 200 export part of their production. The largest export market is the USA, followed by Canada.

Greece’s uniqueness lies not in scale, but in the diversity of its grape varieties. Around 90% of the vineyard area is planted with indigenous Greek grape varieties, a remarkable figure against the backdrop of the general trend towards standardisation in the global wine industry observed over the last fifty years, during which Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and a few other international varieties have taken centre stage. It is rather difficult to determine the exact number of local varieties. Promotional materials usually mention over 300 varieties; however, recent professional studies suggest that the actual number is closer to 200 unique varieties, with the remainder consisting mainly of synonyms and regional variants. Around 60 varieties are widely cultivated throughout the country; many others have survived only in specific local areas. In any case, the actual catalogue of varieties is very extensive.

The varieties with the largest cultivation area are not always the leaders in terms of export volume. The white Savatiano variety ranks first in terms of cultivation area in Greece, followed by the pink-skinned Roditis. Agiorgitiko is the most widespread red grape variety, ranking third overall, ahead of Liatiko, Xinomavro, Muscat of Hamburg and Assyrtiko.

White wines account for approximately two-thirds of total production, with red wines making up the remainder.

Wine-growing regions

Greece’s vineyards stretch across nine degrees of latitude, from 34° to 42° north, and altitudes range from sea level to over 1,100 metres. The country is naturally divided into eight main wine-growing regions, which generally correspond to its geographical location.

Located in the north, Macedonia is the home of the Xinomavro grape variety. Established in 1971 on the south-eastern slope of Mount Vermio in an area with a cool continental climate, the Naoussa PDO region is one of Greece’s oldest wine-growing regions and remains to this day the benchmark for high-quality Greek red wines. Naoussa PDO wines must be made from 100% Xinomavro and be dry red wines; if blended, they are downgraded to a broader regional classification. In the Amynteon wine region, situated at higher altitudes, more elegant wines are produced from the Sinomavro grape with pronounced fruity notes, as well as eye-catching rosé and sparkling wines. In the Drama region, further east, wineries use Sauvignon Blanc, Assitiko and Maragousia to produce fresh white wines.

Fessalia, with the foothills of Mount Olympus at its centre, is the home of the ‘Rapsani’ PDO, a wine blended from Sinomavo, Krasato and Stavroto, as well as the centre of a quiet revival of the forgotten local red variety ‘Limniona’, which is highly prized for its lively acidity and herbaceous aromas.

Epirus, situated in the north-west, is characterised by mountainous terrain and a cool climate. Here, the Debina grape is used to produce refreshing still and sparkling white wines (PDO Tsitsa), whilst the Vlachiko grape yields lighter-bodied red wines. The country’s highest vineyards (1,100 m) are found in the vicinity of Metsovo in the Pindus Mountains.

Central Greece stretches from the Pindus Mountains to the plains of Attica and Boeotia. Attica is the home of the Savatiano grape variety, and its sub-regions, such as the Slopes of Kitherona, produce wines of a wide variety of styles.

The Peloponnese Peninsula is Greece’s largest wine-producing region, accounting for around half of the country’s vineyard area. Its two flagship wine-growing areas with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status are Nemea (100% Agio-Gitiko, red wine) and Mantia (at least 85% Moschofilero, white wine). Located on the northern coast, the Patras region is known for its famous sweet fortified wine ‘Mavrodaphne of Patras’ and several areas where the Muscat variety is grown.

The Ionian Islands, situated off the west coast of Greece, are represented mainly by the island of Cephalonia and its wine with the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Robola of Cephalonia’. Vineyards surround Mount Ainos and extend up to an altitude of 800 metres above sea level; they grow mainly on limestone soils, and most of the vines are ungrafted.

The island of Crete, Greece’s largest island, constituting a distinct wine-growing region where the cool north contrasts sharply with the warm, dry south. Local varieties such as Vidiano (white), Liatiko and Kosifali (red), as well as Syrah, which has adapted well to the island’s growing conditions.

The Aegean and Cyclades islands include Greece’s most distinctive wine-growing regions,  the island of Lemnos is famous for its Muscat of Alexandria, the island of Paros is known for the Monemvasia and Mandilaria varieties, whilst the island of Rhodes produces wines of a wide variety of styles.

And towering above them all is the volcanic island of Santorini.

Santorini: the jewel in the crown of Greek volcanoes

Santorini is the southernmost island of the Cyclades archipelago and one of the most extraordinary vineyards on Earth. Around 1600 BC, one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history destroyed the centre of the island, forming the modern crater and leaving behind mineral-rich soil, a mixture of volcanic ash, pumice, lava and sand, which the locals call ‘aspa’ and which is the key to winemaking in this region.

This soil has two key properties. It contains virtually no clay, which means that phylloxera cannot take hold here; so all the vines on Santorini are ungrafted, and most of them trace their origins back to very ancient mother vines. It is estimated that some vines may be as old as 400 years; the average age of the vines on the island is between 60 and 70 years. New vines are propagated by layering: that is, a branch of an existing vine is buried in the ground until it takes root, which means that a ‘vine’ on the island of Santorini is often an organism of unknown age, constantly renewing itself. A second characteristic of the soil is that, despite its good drainage and poor fertility, the pumice retains the moisture absorbed in the morning from the mist over the crater. Given that the island’s average annual rainfall is just 330–350 mm, this is of crucial importance.

To survive the strong Mertima winds, the hot summer sun and the almost complete lack of rainfall during the growing season, Santorini’s winegrowers have developed the kouloura, a vine-training system in the form of baskets that is unique in the world of winemaking. The vines are trained into low, round baskets positioned close to the ground, in which the grapes grow, protected from the wind and sun and collecting dew. Another variant, ‘koulouri’, uses small vertical ring supports in more sheltered locations. Both methods rely entirely on manual labour; mechanisation is simply impossible here.

The island’s flagship wine is ‘Santorini’ (PDO Santorini). This region was established in 1971 and is currently the first region with a Protected Designation of Origin in Greece to be included in the national list of intangible cultural heritage. A dry wine with the ‘Santorini’ Protected Designation of Origin must contain at least 85% Assyrtiko grapes. Although blending with Athiri and Aidani varieties is permitted, many wines are still produced from 100% Assyrtiko. The Protected Designation of Origin ‘Nykteri’ (PDO Nykteri) denotes a more mature style of wine aged in oak barrels: the alcohol content must be at least 13.5%, and it must be aged in oak barrels for at least three months. The Protected Designation of Origin ‘Vinsanto’ (PDO Vinsanto) is the island’s iconic natural sweet wine: it contains at least 51% Assyrtiko grapes, is made from sun-dried grapes, and is aged in oak barrels for at least 24 months. The finest Vinsanto wines can be aged for over half a century, with residual sugar levels reaching 200–300 g per litre, and their sweetness harmonises perfectly with the sharp acidity of the Astico variety.

However, Santorini’s vineyards are currently facing serious problems. In 2023, winter rainfall totalled just 180 mm, roughly half the historical average and in April, a devastating hailstorm struck the island, halving the harvest. In 2024, winter rainfall totalled just 100 mm, and the situation did not improve in 2025. The harvest of some of the wineries’ flagship wines has fallen to a fraction of its usual level; to cope with this problem, the wineries are experimenting with limited irrigation to mimic winter rains and are spraying the leaves with natural kaolin fertiliser to protect the vines from heat stress.

In addition to climate pressures, the situation is exacerbated by a structural issue: tourism. Santorini’s vineyards are now forced to compete directly for land and labour with one of the Mediterranean’s most overheated tourism markets. According to available data, the price of vineyard plots reaches €300,000 per hectare; in 2025, the purchase price of grapes exceeded €10 per kilogramme, which is even higher than in the Champagne region. Many winegrowers have now become part-time farmers, deriving their main income from tourism; despite the fact that the law prohibits the conversion of vineyard land for residential development, new villas continue to encroach on agricultural land, and compliance with the law is patchy.

Quality and prospects

From an external perspective, Greek winemaking is in excellent shape and continues to develop. The leaders in terms of quality are amongst others Domaine Sigalas, Gaia and Argyros in Santorini; Kir-Yianni and Thymiopoulos in Naua; Gerovassiliou from Northern Greece; Skouras from the Peloponnese; and Lyrarakis from Crete, whose wines can now confidently compete on the international market with wines across all price categories. Export volumes continue to rise, particularly to the US.

The outlook is mixed. The advantages are clear: Greece boasts a diversity of indigenous grape varieties, ancient vineyards, unique terroir conditions, and a mature wine culture  and according to young consumers and restaurant buyers, this is precisely what they are looking for. In terms of key indicators: quality, reputation, export trends or professional assessments, Greek wines have never been in such a favourable position.

The adverse factors relate to climate, demographics and the economy, and these pressures are felt most acutely in the most distinctive wine-growing regions. The island of Santorini, in particular, faces a question of survival: will it be able to retain enough land, labour and water resources for viticulture to continue producing the wines that have laid the foundation of its reputation? These wines remain outstanding.

For now, the advice is simple: enjoy these wines whilst their quality remains at its peak. A bottle of very dry Assitiko from Santorini, a bottle of Nausakhinomavo from the old vines area, or a bottle of well-aged Vinsanto, all offer unique tasting experiences. These wines are rooted in a six-thousand-year-old unbroken tradition and are now, at last, produced with the rigour and ambition that this tradition deserves.