Sampling the specialties of Santorini

Stavros Pelekanos tends his vines on Santorini island. "The basic characteristic of fresh Santorinian wine is the minerals it's given by the … volcanic soil and the saltiness－a salty aftertaste because we are in the middle of the Aegean Sea, and this affects the vineyards," Kasiola explains. "Many of the Chinese who visit us all year－which is very important for us－love the wines and especially Vinsanto, a sweet wine made of sun-dried Assyrtiko grapes, as well as tomato pastes," Kasiola says. After a massive tourism boom in the 1970s, Santorini has turned from a rather poor, agricultural island into a tourism flagship. "We have realized that this collaboration between agricultural production and tourism is the only way for both sectors to develop in a sustainable way," Kasiola says.