Little Old Wine Drinker Me ( 20/06/11)

We awoke to fog or mist covering most of the scenery around us - an amazing sight. We had booked room only here - no breakfast - but they are giving us one anyway, just " a light breakfast to keep us going". It took us nearly an hour to finish it, sitting in our courtyard and watching the mist evaporate as the day warmed. And a warm day it became too. We walked into the major town in the centre of Santorini, Fira ; passing through the villages of Imeroglivi and Santostefano. Once there, after a bit of shopping and an icecream we decided we weren't ready for lunch yet so we caught a taxi home and went for a swim in the pool. This revived us a bit, so we went down to the local Taverna for lunch : squid stuffed with cheese, peppers and tomato for me and a mushroom pasta for Carmel. Our afternoon was spent on a local wine tour. Santorini has quite a few wineries, and the tour took us to three with tastings and education. It is quite fascinating how the grapes grow in th volcanic soil with very little rainfall. The local varietals survive this harsh climate and the winemakers produce some interesting blends - very different to our Australian wines but very drinkable. Most vines here are cultivated in a "basket" weave where the vine is braided into a circle instead of on a trellis . This saves any moisture, and protects the grapes from the sun and wind . The volcanic ground it grows in is very barren so harvesting must be very unpleasant. Some vines are being trialled on a trellis to see if they can manage. So we should be fine to order a bottle tomorrow when we hope to visit the top seafood restaurant on the island.