Wine tour in Santorini vs. Rhodes vs. Mykonos

[arsesta]

I want to surprise DH with a wine tour on one of the Greek islands on our upcoming Med cruise (in October) which is also our honeymoon. I am having a hard time picking which island to do this on. We don't have any tours booked yet on any of these islands. We're not wine snobs, but we do enjoy a nice glass of wine from time to time. We're not very familiar with Greek wine (mostly drink California) but we are open to new experiences and learning! I want to book either a group or private tour so we can sample some local wine, maybe buy a bottle or two, enjoy the wineries, and take it easy. Which island would you pick? And if you have a tour company that you'd recommend, please chime in!

 

At this time, our only plan for Santorini is to visit Oia, Rhodes to visit Old Town and Jewish quarter, and Mykonos to see Delos on our own, but these plans are flexible since we're DIY.

 

Thanks!

[Chairsin]

Santorini is the only place you mentioned know pin for their first class Greek wines. We did a private wine tour in June with Iliana from Santorini Wine Trails and it was terrific. I'm the first place we went to the top three producers wineries -- not the blue wine cooperative Santos where many group tours go. Secondly Iliana is an oenologist so your are not just being escorted from winery to winery and fed stock information from guides who wouldn't know a VinSanto from Santa Claus. If this is a special occasion make it a special tour. And finally we went to lunch at an untoursity cafe in the south part of the island and enjoyed many local dishes (including two of my favorites -- fava bean purée and the tiny intense sun dried tomatoes. One of the things that makes winery tours so interesting in Santorini is you get to see their unique vinticulture (the vines are grown in basket shapes low to the ground ) and understand the reason for it (the windy conditions).

 

 

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[arsesta]

Thanks for your suggestion. I appreciated what you wrote about Greek wine in another post. Any idea if it's impossible to get around to the wineries on Santorini via public bus?

 

 

Santorini is the only place you mentioned know pin for their first class Greek wines. We did a private wine tour in June with Iliana from Santorini Wine Trails and it was terrific. I'm the first place we went to the top three producers wineries -- not the blue wine cooperative Santos where many group tours go. Secondly Iliana is an oenologist so your are not just being escorted from winery to winery and fed stock information from guides who wouldn't know a VinSanto from Santa Claus. If this is a special occasion make it a special tour. And finally we went to lunch at an untoursity cafe in the south part of the island and enjoyed many local dishes (including two of my favorites -- fava bean purée and the tiny intense sun dried tomatoes. One of the things that makes winery tours so interesting in Santorini is you get to see their unique vinticulture (the vines are grown in basket shapes low to the ground ) and understand the reason for it (the windy conditions).

 

 

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[Chairsin]

Sorry -- I don't know anything about the bus routes in the south part of the island.

[wineandbeach]

That sounds like a great tour! Who did you do the tour with?

[Chairsin]

Santorini Wine Trails

 

 

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[Marjar]

The view from the Venetsanos Winery in Santorini is beyond amazing..

[wineandbeach]

Did you have time to explore Oia and Fira after the wine tour? Was it a lot of time spent in the car between wineries?

[wineandbeach]

We ended up going with Iliana of Santorini Wine Trails and had a great day. It was a private tour for the 4 of us. We met Iliana in Fira and explored the beautiful island and went to two wineries. We relaxed and explored the black beaches and had coffee at a nice cafe on the beach. We visited the peak of Mt. Prophet Elias. We then went to my favorite - Faros, the lighthouse. We hiked around looking at amazing views. Could have spent all day there. We then went to two wineries. We were given a delicious Greek lunch at the second one. We also went to a vineyard to see the way they grow the grapes in Santorini which is much different then we are used to and a great thing to see. We explored Oia for a while and then back to Fira. Our husbands took the cable car down but me and my sister decided to brave it and walk the steps which we really enjoyed as an adventure. We had a full day touring and seeing all ends of Santorini. Iliana was a great guide and wine is her passion so very informative.

[leongcpa]

We rented a car from Tony's (search this forum for more info) and enjoyed the sunset from Santos winery outside of Fira (after a visit to Oia). It was quite stunning, and their tasting platters were yummy and generous.

[marysb]

Make sure you get to Santo Winery on Santorini - wow! Views, great wine, and a beautiful setting.