Yannis Valambous had a successful career as an economist in the UK. But in 2010, he decided to leave that behind, and move to Santorini; he wanted to restore and develop the vineyards and winery left to him by his late father. Yannis had fond memories of going to Santorini on holiday as a child and believed that the island had the potential to produce world class wines. So, with the help of two talented oenologists, he set about reviving the property and building a state-of-the-art winery, to allow them to create high quality wines from indigenous varieties. While over sixty different native varieties are cultivated by the small handful of growers on Santorini (currently eighteen), there is a strong focus on one of them – Assyrtiko. Over the last 20 years, Assyrtiko has proven itself as a serious grape variety capable of making some astonishing wines. Vassaltis now have 10 different grape varieties planted, which Yannis described as “9 more than I’d originally planned”, although Assyrtiko remains the flagship and the heart of what they produce. (DS 08/08/22)