Artemis Karamolegos Vinsanto 2010

Although the Artemis Karamolegos winery was officially founded in the form we know it today in 2004, the Karamolegos family has a winemaking tradition that stretches back to 1952. Today it is the most widely awarded winery on the island of Santorini, with their modern cellar producing a range of of exceptional wines mainly from Assyrtiko, alongside other indigenous grape varieties of Santorini. This is the third largest winery on Santorini, working with a combination of their own vineyards and experienced growers across the island.

Santorini's unique terroir was forged by a huge volcanic eruption back in 1620BC. The volcanic soils create an environment that is uniquely hostile to Phylloxera, meaning that vines have remained on their original roots. The dry, unforgiving terroir means roots of the vines often exceed 20 meters in length as the penetrate deep into the subsoil in the search for water. The vines can only survive in this arid climate due to the capacity of the soil to retain what little moisture there is. This is one of the world's oldest viticultural areas, with vine growing traced back over 34 centuries.

This incredible sweet wine is made from 85% Assyrtiko with 15% Aïdani, sourced from old vines averaging 100 years of age in the villages of Megalochori, Pyrgos, Exo Gonia and Akrotiri. The grapes are left to dry in a traditional way for 9 to 14 days under the hot sun of Santorini in order to evaporate the juice losing weight and concentrating the sugars, acidity and flavours. Fermentation follows in tanks and lasts for several days. It stops spontaneously leaving a significant amount of residual sugar. Maturation takes place in old French oak barrels of 225 and 500 litres for at least 90 months.