Wine Tourism and Gastronomy
12.4 Qualitative Analysis
12.4.1 From the Supply Point of View: Complementarity
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1,400 ha and the island still has 55 native varieties. For white wines, the most famous and the most emblematic is the assyrtico grape, which represents about 70 % of the vine crop. The viticulture in Santorini is unique in several respects. Although the sub-soil is made up of Cyclades limestone, following the catastrophic volcanic erup- tion in 1600 BC the vines now thrive in a dry volcanic soil that consists of a mixture of ash, pumice stone, hardened lava and different sands and contains very little organic matter but a number of minerals, except potassium. The stakeholders in the wine world are very proud of two typical products. Firstly a dry white wine from an overnight vinifi cation process ( nykta in Greek) which allows the grapes to cool before harvesting and avoids oxidation. Nykteri is therefore a more acidic and aro- matic wine with a clear yellow-green color because the fl avonols have not had the chance to oxidize. And secondly a mellow wine, made using the passerillage tech- nique, Vinsanto is a naturally sweet wine, widely publicized and respected and sometimes used in cooking. The unique vineyard landscapes are characterized by a special vine-pruning technique called the “crown cup” or the “Santorini basket” or
“ Kouloura ” (Fig. 12.1 ), passed down over generations from ancient times, which consists of intertwining and wrapping the vine shoots to form a basket or a nest rest- ing on the volcanic soil which aims to protect the bunches of grapes from both unfavorable wind conditions (very strong winds, especially in spring when budding
Fig. 12.1 This is a “giant” kouloura from Faros in the south of the island of Santorini, the visit of which is included on the “grand cru” wine tourism tour (4–5 h, 115 euros per person) organized by the Experience Santorini tour-operator. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
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occurs, can result in violent and repeated sand-blasting) and the hot sunlight. The island of Santorini has two recognized appellations: the AOP Santorini (DPO Santorini) and PGS regional entity, the Cyclades PGS, whose geographical area was established in 2008 and includes the entire Cyclades island group.
Whatever their size, the 12 wine-producing farms on the island are all open to tourists. This tourist opening is both logical and understood to be a necessity. This is an example of economic diversifi cation. In general, wine tourism offers tourists the chance to visit the site and/or the production landscape, to meet with producers (winemakers) and to taste the products. The comparative tasting of a selection of different wines from the domain they are visiting is frequently followed by pur- chases, bought as souvenirs and/or gifts. All the tourists questioned during the period of participant observation reported having undertaken or intending to under- take tourism activities related to wine and oenology. While there is great uncertainty concerning the fi gures obtained by the wineries, due often to a lack of regular and rigorous counting of the number of wine tourists, the volume of visitors published is relatively signifi cant: 20,000 visitors annually to the Sigalas estate, an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 visitors a year to the Argyros Estate. The Winery & Santowines Oenotourism Center cooperative gets 400,000 visitors a year.
The comparative study of wine tourism offerings reveals that gastronomy plays a major role in wine tourism. It is in fact both a tangible addition with cheeses, cold meats and sweets etc. and an intangible addition via the communication focusing on the food and drink that accompany the recreational activities, the experiences, the learning processes and the acquisition of tourism skills. As such, and especially when they have to be paid for, the wine-tastings are accompanied by a tasting of cold meats and/or cheeses from Santorini and, more broadly, the Cyclades group.
At the Sigalas estate, in Oia, the wine-tastings on offer are fi rstly often combined and secondly contextualized. In fact they either take place indoors in a room equipped with a bar where wine is aestheticized (Figs. 12.2 and 12.3 ), or they are organized outside where the wine is directly linked to the production landscape (Fig. 12.4 ). As such the taster can commune directly with the landscapes from which the wine comes and indirectly communicate with the producers who made it (Pitte 1993 ; Etcheverria and Bras 2005 ). This complementarity is based on the idea that tasting wine remains primarily a way to simply have a drink. Three “wine and food tourism” offers are available:
– Dinners with between four and ten people “where the wines of Sigalas Estate are complimented by traditional Cycladic delicacies” (from their website);
– Tasting-menus with “6 plates (that differ every month of the seasonal products) combined with 6 glasses of wine (different varietal-style and vintage)” (from their website) organized in the bar/tasting-room;
– Seminars with combined wine and food tastings which are organized by wine experts from the estates: “11 different wines including 8 labels of the winery and 3 labels of the most important Greek grape varieties. The plate includes: santorini fava, santorini tomato cherry (sundried tomato paste, tomato fritters), santorini eggplant, santorini zuccini, capers, capers leaves aged in vinegar, santorini chloro cheese, olives and traditional spoon dessert” (from their website).
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Combined-tastings are available at the Selene restaurant where there are not only tasting lessons which are organized but also combined “Wines & cheese Cycladic testing” sessions (Fig. 12.5 ). Georgia Tsara, the restaurant manager and sommelier, organizes these tastings, inviting people to both a discovery and to a tasting game by combining wine-tasting and local cheeses.
At the Argyros Estate the wine-testing experience ends with the unique taste of a homemade chocolate and Redbush tea-fl avored Vinsanto crafted by chocolate- maker Josef Zotter (Fig. 12.6 ). This organic, handmade and fair trade dark- chocolate
“stimulates all the senses and surprises people with its complexity and its lasting taste in the mouth” (according to the advertising from the Argyros Estate). The advertising of this chocolate also refers to the numerous awards won by the Vinsanto from the Argyros Estate in national and international competitions and tastings and the award for best foreign chocolate-maker won by Josef Zotter at the Eurochocolat Award competition in Perugia.
On the island of Santorini therefore there are wine tourism opportunities, publi- cized particularly thanks to the wine tours, mainly present on the wine estates and from the Santowines Winery & Oenotourism Center cooperative. They are clearly inseparable from the gastronomy. In fact they are based on a variety of initiatives by which liquid and solid foods are tasted and sold in a complementary way. In fact,
Fig. 12.2 An exhibition of dresses made from wine labels. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
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Fig. 12.3 An exhibition of dresses made from wine labels. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
Fig. 12.4 One of the terraces at the Sigalas vineyard in Oia on which tastings are held in the late afternoon. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
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these visits are frequently accompanied by the sale of wines and other varied prod- ucts, most frequently food. Similarly, tourism communication is mainly “wine and food tourism” related. Therefore wine-tourism on Santorini is an effective form of tourism allowing interaction between different food businesses and tourism stake- holders. It is enthusiastically publicized and valued by both internal and external bodies (tourist and gastronomic guides and magazines, travel websites, etc.) in terms of images, symbols, and dreams. Correspondingly, for political stakeholders on the island of Santorini, gastronomy works to help the wine tourism industry. “2013 Year of Gastronomy in Santorini” was a program initiated and funded by the Thira munic- ipal council: “This is a multidimensional event that connects the island’s past—the Akrotiri archaeological site—with modernity, which promotes the uniqueness and the fertility of the volcanic soil on Santorini. An event which includes all aspects of contemporary life in a single and unique tourist destination: gastronomy, wine, arts, traditions, scientifi c knowledge and, more generally, culture” (Interview with Anastasios Nikolaos Zorzos, Mayor of Thira, in the “Santorini Today Guide. The Island’s premiere Lifestyle & Travel Magazine 2013/14”). In the same guide, as if like an echo, the island’s cuisine is celebrated by Christos Doumas, an archaeologist
Fig. 12.5 At the Selene Restaurant in Pyrgos, a plate of four cheeses from the Cycladic Islands:
Niotiko , a goat’s-milk cheese from Ios, Xinotiri , a goat’s-milk cheese from Naxos, Volaki , a cow’s- milk cheese from Tinos and Chloro a goat’s-milk cheese from Santorini aged at the Vinsanto house restaurant. These cheeses are served with a Santorini cherry-tomato chutney fl avored with home- made spices and rusk. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
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responsible for the excavations taking place at the Akrotiri site, who emphasizes the inventiveness of recipes which help to vary the taste. This event emphasizes on the one hand the advanced, deep-rooted, and still-relevant geographical implementation of agricultural food products, particularly grapes but also split peas, and on the other hand on the historical depth of the ties built between the nature of the volcanic soils and the cooking and taste-related culture. The initiative has led to many restaurants and wineries displaying the logo, showing they offer deals where local dishes and wines are valued together, particularly via the creation of dishes made using wine:
special menus made up exclusively of local culinary specialties (reimagined or not), cooking lessons (at the Raki restaurant in Megalochori), and wine-tasting (at the Selene restaurant in Pyrgos) preparations highlighting the use of wines and alcohol in original recipes, especially with Vinsanto (at the Koukoumavlos restaurant in Thira—Fig. 12.7 ) or in surprising cocktails (at the Selene restaurant in Pyrgos). Food creativity is frequently highlighted as at the Koukoumavlos restaurant in Thira which
“reworks” typical dishes such as kebabs or mixes the fl avors of lamb with those of jasmine, and the 1,800 restaurant in Oia which offers a dessert combining a mastic resin ice cream with candied capers. In these cases, gastronomy therefore works to highlight wine tourism and attract tourists.
Fig. 12.6 General overview of the different food products available for tasting at the Estate Argyros vineyard. The chocolate bar fl avored with homemade Vinsanto and Redbush tea sits in the center of the selection. Source : Olivier Etcheverria
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