Artemis Karamolegos is one of the most dynamic wineries on Santorini. Inspired by his grandfather, who started making wine and cultivating vines as a hobby in the 1950s, Artemis founded his winery in 2004, growing it to be the third largest winery by volume on the Aegean island. They own just over 3 hectares of vineyards (some over 100 years old) across Pyrgos, Megalorchori, Exo Gonia, Akrotiri and Fira, and have long term contracts to farm another 5 hectares. They specialize in Assyrtiko, with a range of wines and styles, including numerous single vineyard wines with seriously (150+ years) old vines. The progressive, travelled Artemis, along with talented young winemaker Lefteris Anagnostou, have released Santorini’s first orange wine, and are experimenting with their own custom-made cement tanks. The winery has become a destination, opening the popular Aroma Avlis Food & Wine restaurant, and offering a series of cooking classes.

There are more than 20 wineries on the tiny volcanic Greek island, with vines cultivated there before the Minoan eruption in 1613 BCE, known as the most violent eruption in recent millennia. The volcanic soils are a scrubby mix of basalt, granite, pumice, obsidian and ash, with high levels of silica oxides and metals making the soils acidic /low pH, well suited to amplifying the mineral / marine / salinity of Assyrtiko. More than 40 varieties grow on the island, though not all are cultivated, and most are on their own rootstocks.