On our penultimate day in Greece we decided to visit Art Space Winery. We’d heard good things, and had thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of wine the previous night during our dinner at To Psoraki (a phenomenal visit, by the way!) so we were excited upon arrival. … Have to say, this was one of the most interesting winery visits I’ve had — certainly not your run-of-the-mill “Here’s our vines, here’s our fermenters, here’s our barrels and cellars …” type of tour. Lots of history and interesting nuance to this 200 yo. winery, which used to house and support workers on premises.
Here, off to the left, we see a communal washing area for the workers, and to the right a cooking space:
Another pic. of the oven:
At present day, the winery remains in operation on premises, and portions that used to be used for wine production, and/or housing of horses, has now been repurposed into an art gallery of sorts, featuring works primarily from local artists.
I took this picture to show my daughter, who loves creating mixed media art:
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Both Ashley and I loved this piece. The wave is three dimensional, with texture; made by a local artist, with the three-D wave made from crushed local rocks mixed with water. We liked it enough to inquire about price — at no more than two and a half feet by one and a half feet, we figured we could probably manage getting it back to the States ourselves — but we balked just a wee bit at the 10k Euro price! Oh well … somebody will love it …
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A blurry view into one of the art galleries, immediately adjacent to the tasting counter. This room used to be the horses’ stable:
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180 degree turn from the preceding picture, looking back at the tasting counter, which is just beyond this partition:
Grape vines here, and at many vineyards on the island, are trained into circular vines/bushes just a couple feet above ground, to retain humidity — ingenious! I’ve not heard of this, or seen it, anywhere else. Sadly, didn’t get any pictures of this, but they’re easily searchable online for those who are curious.
76 yo owner behind this winery’s current iteration. Less than a thousand cases annually; only sold on-site. All wines are unfiltered and organic. The prices are – ahem – not cheap, particularly in the context of the local wines, but they were the best we had during our visit. Knowing this would be our only opportunity to buy any, we swallowed the pill and bought four bottles: two each of the 2023 Aidani-Assytriko blend ($65), and the 2023 Assyrtiko ($75).
After the tour of the premises, our affable host led us through a brief tasting. We were encouraged to take bites of a local cheese between each wine – I took very tiny nibbles, on account of the cheese being fairly strongly flavored — it was similar to a Manchego. The pours were frustratingly small — maybe an ounce, tops — but whatever. They kinda/barely served their purpose. Tasting fee was 15 euro each, if I recall correctly.
2023 Art Space - Antonis Argiros Assyrtiko-Aidani - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades (9/21/2024)
– tasted one small pour at winery –
– 30% Aidani, 70% Assyrtiko –
NOSE: fennel bulb; light mineral tones; light pear aroma.
BODY: light green-yellow color; medium-light body.
TASTE: medium+ acidity; saline; lychee-pear mix; “snazzy”; medium dry extract; 13% alc. hidden. Liked this a lot.
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2022 Art Space - Antonis Argiros Assyrtiko Santorini - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini (9/21/2024)
– tasted one small pour at winery –
– 100% Assyrtiko –
NOSE: very light, or just overtly reticent. If you really search for it, you’ll find some faint mineral and light oceanic wafts.
BODY: light, 18k gold color.
TASTE: light; minerals; medium+ acidity.
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2023 Art Space - Antonis Argiros Assyrtiko Santorini - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini (9/21/2024)
– 100% Assyrtiko –
NOSE: expressive – moreso than the ’22 Assyrtiko, which immediately preceded it — a bit fruitier than the ’22 Assyrtiko; a pleasant cool cucumber note, too.
BODY: light body; light green-yellow color.
TASTE: saline; light gooseberry/lychee mix; medium+ to high acidity. Liked this one a lot.
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2020 Art Space - Antonis Argiros Mavrotragano - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini (9/21/2024)
– tasted one small pour at winery –
– 100% Mavrotragano –
Medium garnet color. Very oaky on the Nose. Arrestingly tannic, with smoky blackberry dominating the palate; 13.5% alc; medium+ acidity. “Mavro” = black, and “tragano” = crispy — one taste of this wine and the grape variety’s name is blatant and on full display. This wine spent 4 yrs in French oak. Not for drinking now. Not convinced time will cure all ills, but it will definitely do it well. Rustic with guts. HOLD.
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2014 Art Space - Antonis Argiros Mezzo - Greece, Aegean, Cyclades, Santorini (9/21/2024)
– tasted one small pour at winery –
This is a semi-sweet dessert wine, with no sugar added. Gently raisiny, and otherwise tight on the Nose. Medium-full bodied with moderate acidity on the lightly raisiny palate; unlike any other sweet wine I’ve ever had. An interesting oddity, but not compelling.