Vassaltis Vineyards

In ten short years, Vassaltis vineyards has become one of the most renowned producers on the beautiful, volcanic island of Santorini. It was established by the indefatigable Yannis Valambous, who inherited two small parcels of vines – and a love of wine – from his father. Yannis recruited his namesake Yannis Papaeconomou, whose CV includes stints at Chapoutier in the Northern Rhône and Marlborough’s Oyster Bay, as chief oenologist.

Vassaltis’ journey has mirrored Santorini’s rise to prominence as a source of world-class white wines, made from the Assyrtiko grape. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. As Yannis (Valambous) points out, Santorini can be a brutally tough place to make wine, with baking hot sun, fierce winds and the lowest average rainfall of anywhere in Europe. Not only that, but when it comes to land and also labour, viticulture has to compete with the island’s lucrative tourist industry.

But the team at Vassaltis is as determined as it is talented, and the wines seem only to get better with every new release. The range includes the benchmark, unoaked Santorini Assyrtiko; the barrel-fermented Alcyone (from select plots in Pyrgos, Megalochori and Vourvoulos) and the brilliant Gramina, one of Santorini’s most ambitious wines, from eighty-year old vines on paper thin soil within sight of the Aegean, where the grapes are harvested at night for maximum freshness.

Vassaltis also produces tiny volumes of a toothsome Vin Santo and a complex, characterful red from Mavrotragano, another of the fascinating grape varieties indigenous to Greece.

Vassaltis' Assyrtikos are characterised by shimmering acidity, salinity and their capacity to age, as was demonstrated in a series of tastings held in London in Spring 2025 to mark Vassaltis’ tenth anniversary. Among the highlights was the 2017 Santorini Assyrtiko, daisy-fresh but with added complexity, texture and sheer profundity from time in the bottle. Whatever your definition of “fine wine”, the wines of Vassaltis unequivocally qualify.