Gaia Wines Santorini

Yiannis Paraskevopoulos earned his oenology doctorate at the University of Bordeaux II before returning to Greece, and partnered with viticulturist Leon Karatsalos in 1994 to found Gaia Wines as a deliberately twin-cellar Greek-wine project. The Santorini cellar opened first, on the eastern shoreline between Kamari and Monolithos, with the inaugural 1994 vintage of Thalassitis released at 9,800 numbered bottles. The Nemea operation followed three years later: a single-estate seven-hectare vineyard in the Koutsi sub-zone of Nemea PDO at 550 metres in the Peloponnese, with the dedicated Nemea winery completed in 1997. The two cellars together placed Gaia at the centre of the modern Greek fine-wine renaissance, with Paraskevopoulos serving as a public voice for the Greek wine sector and a frequent international speaker on the indigenous Greek varieties. The Santorini production grew rapidly through the late 1990s as the international Assyrtiko trade emerged, with the Thalassitis line passing 100,000 bottles by 1999 and the cellar adding the underwater Submerged programme, the Wild Ferment Assyrtiko, and the Ritinitis Nobilis Retsina across the following two decades.

• Yiannis Paraskevopoulos earned his oenology doctorate at the University of Bordeaux II before returning to Greece to co-found Gaia Wines with viticulturist Leon Karatsalos in 1994.
• The Santorini cellar opened first on the eastern shoreline between Kamari and Monolithos; the Nemea cellar followed in the Koutsi sub-zone of the Peloponnese with the dedicated winery completed in 1997.
• The inaugural 1994 vintage of Thalassitis was released at 9,800 numbered bottles and grew to over 100,000 bottles by 1999 as the international Assyrtiko trade emerged.
• Paraskevopoulos has served as a leading public voice for the Greek fine-wine sector and a frequent international speaker on the indigenous Greek varieties such as Assyrtiko and Agiorgitiko.
• The two cellars together placed Gaia at the centre of the modern Greek fine-wine renaissance and helped position dry Greek Assyrtiko as a benchmark category in the global wine trade.

The Gaia Santorini cellar sits directly on the beach on the eastern shoreline of Santorini between Kamari and Monolithos, well outside the cooperative-anchored central plateau of the island and away from the dramatic caldera-side cellars of Oia and Pyrgos. The building is itself a Santorinian artefact: a converted early-19th-century tomato processing plant, a remnant of the island's pre-tourism agricultural economy that produced sun-dried tomatoes for export across the eastern Mediterranean. The Gaia conversion preserved the original industrial bones of the structure, with stainless steel fermenters and barrel halls integrated into the old plant's volumes, while the seafront orientation places the working cellar within a few metres of the underwater Submerged cellar that has anchored the eastern-shoreline identity of the operation since 2009. Fruit for the Santorini cuvées is drawn from contracted vineyards in the Episkopi, Akrotiri, and Pyrgos sub-zones of the island, with the Wild Ferment Assyrtiko sourced exclusively from Pyrgos at higher elevation. The shoreline location places the Gaia cellar in a different microclimate from the producers of the central plateau, with stronger maritime influence and direct line-of-sight access to the underwater cellar offshore.

• The cellar sits directly on the beach on the eastern shoreline of Santorini between Kamari and Monolithos, in a different microclimate from the central-plateau producers around Oia and Pyrgos.
• The building is a converted early-19th-century tomato processing plant, a remnant of the island's pre-tourism agricultural economy that produced sun-dried tomatoes for export.
• The conversion preserved the original industrial bones of the structure, with stainless steel fermenters and barrel halls integrated into the old plant's volumes.
• Fruit for the Santorini cuvées is drawn from contracted vineyards in the Episkopi, Akrotiri, and Pyrgos sub-zones; Wild Ferment is sourced exclusively from Pyrgos at higher elevation.
• The seafront orientation places the working cellar within a few metres of the underwater Submerged cellar that has anchored the eastern-shoreline identity of the operation since 2009.

The flagship Thalassitis (Greek for 'coming from the sea') is 100% Assyrtiko sourced from old vineyards in the Episkopi, Akrotiri, and Pyrgos sub-zones of Santorini, with fruit drawn from vines now approaching 80 years of age. The cuvée has been made since the inaugural 1994 vintage, fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and aged briefly on lees with no oak; the wine quickly built a reference reputation for dry Santorinian Assyrtiko at the international level. The Thalassitis Submerged programme launched in 2009 and ages around 500 bottles of each vintage in an underwater cellar off the eastern coast of Santorini for four years before release. The original 30-metre depth was reduced to 20 metres after the high pressure damaged most of the 2012 and 2013 vintages, with only 37 of 1,050 bottles recovered (4 from 2012 and 33 from 2013). The current 20-metre cellar holds four consecutive vintages at any moment under stable temperature, zero light, and constant gentle pressure. The recovered bottles develop a distinctive smoky and hydrocarbon aromatic dimension, a rounder mid-palate, and a curiously young colour for an aged wine, with no oxidative markers. The programme is a defining experiment in alternative ageing methodology and has become a signature element of the Gaia Santorini identity.

• Thalassitis is 100% Assyrtiko sourced from the Episkopi, Akrotiri, and Pyrgos sub-zones; fruit comes from vines now approaching 80 years of age and the cuvée has been produced since the inaugural 1994 vintage.
• Thalassitis Submerged launched in 2009 and ages around 500 bottles of each vintage in an underwater cellar off Santorini's eastern coast for four years before release; four vintages are held at any moment.
• The original 30-metre depth was reduced to 20 metres after the high pressure damaged most of the 2012 and 2013 vintages, with only 37 of 1,050 bottles recovered (4 from 2012, 33 from 2013).
• Recovered Submerged bottles develop a distinctive smoky and hydrocarbon aromatic dimension, a rounder mid-palate, and a young colour without oxidative markers.
• The Submerged programme has become a defining experiment in alternative ageing methodology and a signature element of the Gaia Santorini identity in the international fine-wine trade.

Beyond Thalassitis and Submerged, the Gaia Santorini cellar produces the Wild Ferment Assyrtiko: a 100% Assyrtiko cuvée sourced exclusively from the Pyrgos sub-zone at higher elevation, made with a 10 to 12 hour cold skin contact at around 10 degrees Celsius before fermentation. The wine ferments spontaneously with ambient yeasts across multiple vessel types: 50% in stainless steel, 20% in 225-litre French oak, 10% in American oak, and 20% in acacia barrels. Each barrel develops slightly differently depending on the indigenous yeast strain that initiates fermentation, building layers of texture, citrus, oak-laced minerality, and a savoury salty closure. The Ritinitis Nobilis is a modern fine-wine Retsina, made with controlled additions of pine resin to a base of Roditis from the Peloponnese, designed to elevate the historic Greek style above its taverna reputation. The portfolio also includes the Notios range and various still and sparkling cuvées spanning the Greek wine map. The Nemea cellar produces the seven-hectare single-estate Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko at Koutsi at 550 metres on calcareous limestone, with 25-day extended maceration, 12 months in French oak, and no fining or filtration; the 2021 vintage scored 93 points from leading international critics.

• Wild Ferment Assyrtiko is sourced exclusively from the Pyrgos sub-zone, made with a 10 to 12 hour cold maceration at around 10 degrees Celsius before fermentation.
• Wild Ferment uses spontaneous ambient yeast fermentation across multiple vessels: 50% stainless steel, 20% French oak, 10% American oak, and 20% acacia barrels.
• Ritinitis Nobilis is Gaia's modern fine-wine Retsina, made with controlled pine resin additions to a Roditis base from the Peloponnese, designed to elevate the historic Greek style.
• The Nemea cellar produces the seven-hectare single-estate Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko at Koutsi at 550 metres on calcareous limestone, with 25-day maceration and 12 months in French oak.
• The full Gaia portfolio also includes the Notios range of approachable Greek varietals and various still and sparkling cuvées spanning the Greek wine map across the Peloponnese and the Cyclades.

Gaia Wines Santorini sits alongside Estate Argyros, Domaine Sigalas, and Hatzidakis Winery in the modern reference set for Santorinian Assyrtiko, with the Thalassitis line carrying broad recognition across the international fine-wine press as one of the standard-bearers of dry Greek Assyrtiko. Critical reception runs from solid 90-point reviews on the entry-tier cuvées up to scores in the mid-90s for Thalassitis Submerged and the older single-vineyard releases. The Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko from the Nemea cellar received 93 points from leading critics for the 2021 vintage and is widely cited as one of the benchmark Agiorgitiko bottlings for Nemea PDO. Gaia distributes through major importers across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, with strong presence in restaurant lists across the Greek-island diaspora and the international Mediterranean wine trade. The Santorini cellar operates a tasting room and visitor centre on the Monolithos shoreline, with sea-facing tasting facilities and direct view of the offshore underwater cellar. United States distribution runs through Winebow Imports.

• Gaia sits alongside Estate Argyros, Domaine Sigalas, and Hatzidakis Winery in the modern reference set for Santorinian Assyrtiko in the international fine-wine trade.
• Thalassitis is widely recognised as one of the standard-bearers of dry Greek Assyrtiko, with critical reception ranging from solid 90-point scores up to mid-90s for the Submerged and aged releases.
• The Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko from Koutsi (Nemea PDO) received 93 points from leading critics for the 2021 vintage and is widely cited as a Nemea benchmark.
• The Santorini cellar operates a tasting room and visitor centre on the Monolithos shoreline, with sea-facing tasting facilities and direct view of the offshore underwater cellar.
• United States distribution runs through Winebow Imports, with broader distribution across Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania.