Project Description
Art Space Winery
The old, pre-industrial winery of 1861 closed its doors in 1952, when its third owner, Nikolaos A. Argyros, founded the Union of Cooperatives for Products of Thira and the biggest winery on the island, now known as SantoWines.
In 1999, his son, Antonis N. Argyros, brings it back to life and founds Art Space. The chambers of the old winery are restored and used as a museum to remind us of the history of wine and the craftsmanship employed when it was made.
The adjacent underground cavern of the old barn is chosen as the new winery. The entrance to this cave is 8 metres below the surface of the earth while the depth at the end of the cave reaches 11 metres. The dominant material is a dense layer of pumice, 6 metres thick, which is in itself a unique insulating material, thus constituting the perfect environment for the maturation and ageing of the wine.
The second significant advantage is the altitudinal difference, which made “vertical vinification” possible. The vinification takes place on three different levels and makes use of gravity and natural flow, without the use of pumps.
Although Art Space Winery is small, it is a labour of love while making use of ultra modern technology and clearly shows preference to “quality” over ‘quantity’. Its modern equipment includes special tanks for pre-fermentation cold socking, stain steel fermentation tanks, cooling equipment for temperature control throughout the production process as well as oak barrels for the maturation of the wine.
You can find us at the following address: Exo Gonia, 847000, Phone: +30 22860 32774 or +30 6932 899 509 and email: info@artspace-santorini.com
