Growers optimistic as grape harvest begins on Santorini

The cutting of the first bunch of Assyrtiko on the southern Aegean island of Santorini on August 4 signaled the start of the 2017 wine grape harvest across Greece. The harvest takes roughly three months, ending in late October in the vineyards of northern Greece.

Growers on Santorini are optimistic of a very good year and the usually arid island saw some much-desired rain this winter. The grapes are looking strong and healthy. Volume, however, has been compromised due to a heat wave in late June that dried up hundreds of vines.

"We estimate a drop of as much as 30 percent in wine grapes," says Matthaios Dimopoulos, director of Santo Wines, the union of Santorini cooperatives. Winemaker Yiannis Tselepos, however, does not expect losses to exceed 5 percent.

More than 2,000 people with connections to the industry gathered at the official launch of the...