Santorini: Wine and Food

How could I go to Santorini and not check out the local food and the wine. But first, let me tell you some of the things I expected to find, but did not: pita bread, hummus and bowls of olives


LET’S TALK ABOUT SANTORINI FOOD

 For some reason, I had assumed all of Greece would serve the exact same food as every restaurant in the Toronto Greek village. But nope…I was wrong. I’m not sure if just Santorini is different or this applies to the other islands, but I didn’t get pita bread and hummus with every meal. Instead the island is famous for fried tomato balls (delicious) and fava beans with olive oil.

Yes, I know hummus is made of beans (chickpeas), but the fava bean thing is different. It comes mushy and you eat it with a spoon. The texture is thicker than hummus so it’s not a dip. It is tasty though and they didn’t bring bread with it – so another hint that it’s not a dip. When I did get bread, whether it was a tavern, café or restaurant, it was never pita. Instead it was this crusty bread with a fluffy, airy inside. 

So what do you do with the bread? You spread your olive tapenade on it. I love olives so was expecting to eat bowls and bowls of them while there. I did get to have them in some places (just a few…and they were yummy), but mostly tapenade was what was on the menu. 

 Another thing on the menu was octopus. I was planning on eating seafood when there so was thrilled to see octopus almost everywhere. You could get it sautéed, fried, in stews, cold in salads or my favorite way – grilled. I admit I totally took advantage of this and had it every day. 


AND NOW A LITTLE ABOUT THE WINE

Santorini is a strange little island. It has volcanic soil which is why the cherry tomatoes and beans are so delicious. It’s also because this soil has very little organic matter, just a whole lot of minerals, it has a low pH level and high acidity. They tell me this combination makes good wine. I have to agree that the white wines I tried were pretty good, but to be honest, the reds were hit and miss. Maybe I needed to try more varieties.

What you will notice when visiting Santorini is that the vines aren’t upright like they are in other vineyards around the world. Instead, they are flat on the ground and wound in circles to form a basket. This is because it’s hot there, it doesn’t rain often and it can be windy.

 Keeping the vines close to the ground prevents the grapes from falling off and where they get their moisture is from the morning midst (or sea fog). The basket growing method apparently helps retain this moisture. 

 I went on a tour of one of the vineyards and they told me that Santorini is one of the only places that uses this basket method.