Domaine Sigalas Santorini Assyrtiko Athiri 2024

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Domaine Sigalas was founded in 1991 in Oia, on the northern part of Santorini, by Paris Sigalas — a mathematics student who spent his summers on the island harvesting his family's vineyards and grew increasingly captivated by winemaking, eventually taking over his grandfather's vineyard operations. He built the estate on what he called the "dynamic evolution of tradition," pairing experimentation in both vineyard and cellar with traditional Santorinian cultivation methods to express the island's distinctive terroir. The estate farms roughly 40 hectares sustainably and produces around 200,000 bottles a year, focused on indigenous Santorinian and Cycladic varieties, and has been led since 2020 by CEO Stelios Boutaris. Labeled "Aa" on the bottle, this dry white blends Assyrtiko and Athiri sourced from hand-selected parcels across Santorini and other Cycladic islands, off vines more than 60 years old, classified under the PGI Cyclades appellation. Grapes are handpicked and rigorously sorted, then whole-bunch pressed gently and slowly; each variety is vinified separately in stainless steel under controlled temperature before blending begins in the early months of lees aging, with roughly six months of aging and periodic bâtonnage (lees-stirring) in tank.