The Story of Estate Argyros

In Greece, the wines from Santorini lead the way. The best wines are now widely recognised as World Class. Santorini offers a unique, strange climate; the island is hot, dry and windy. There is very little rain. And yet the wines have texture and mineral notes of a much cooler region. They have famously low pH levels which you would never expect from a hot island in the middle of the Aegean. Famously too, they have a unique volcanic terroir, resulting from a sequence of massive explosions, most famously from 1600 BC which destroyed the city of Akrotiri, covering it in volcanic ash, similar to Vesuvius and Pompei, 1700 years later.

There is no organic matter in the soils and the Phylloxera louse is completely absent. As a result, Santorini claims some of the oldest Vitis Vinifera vines on the planet. There are many vines at Argyros older than 200 years. Some vines are claimed to be 400 years old.

Estate Argyros dates back to 1903. The family has lived on the island for many generations. Matthew Argyros, himself the 4th generation of a wine producing family, now runs the operation.

It is a large estate by the standards of Santorini, with 120 hectares of vines. Production, though, is small due to the tiny yields, particularly in recent years. Clark Foyster Wines have partnered with Estate Argyros since 2014. The wines improve year on year, and the current release of 2022 and 2023 vintages are the best wines they have yet produced.

Despite the wines being of the highest quality for some time now, it looks as though Estate Argyros is finally being recognised more widely and is well on its way to becoming one of the world’s iconic producers. In November 2025, it won the IWSC Old Vine Trophy, awarded for both wine quality and commitment to old vine preservation. It was also named in the top five of the IWSC Top 50 Wine Producers List and has been named in Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries more recently in 2019 and 2021.

We now come to you with the estate’s latest releases, which Mathew Argyros and the estate have separated based on the best and oldest plots being used to produce iconic single vineyard wines.

Please get in touch with us at orders@cfwines.co.uk if you’d like to place an order.

Dry wines –100% Assyrtiko

Cuvée Palatia 2023: £38.30 DPD / £34.97 IB per bottle

7 parcels of vineyards, from 120–180-year-old vines. Vinified in stainless steel and 9 months ageing on the lees before bottling.

Cuvée Monsignori 2022: £45.61 DPD / £42.29 IB per bottle

A single vineyard just below the winery. It is made up mostly of 220-year-old vines, which are vinified entirely in stainless steel and aged on lees for 12 months.

Cuvée Evdemon 2022: £51.90 DPD / £48.57 IB per bottle

A single plot of 150-200 year-old vines, farmed biodynamically. 25% of vinification takes place in oak, before re-assembly with the rest of the cuvée into stainless steel for 30 months on fine lees.

Cuvée Gerontampelo 2020: £50.28 DPD / £46.84 IB per bottle

Selected parcels of 180 -200-year-old vines, mostly fermented in old oak for 12 months, followed by 12 more months in stainless steel.

Pure 2022: £50.28 DPD / £46.84 IB per bottle

A different project owned by Matthew Argyros and a partner. Vineyards in Megalochori. Production is tiny: 6,000 bottles per year, vinified and matured entirely in concrete.

Sweet wines: 80% Assyrtiko, 10% Athiri, 10% Aidani

We also have a thrilling release of 3 historical wines from the family’s old ‘Canava’ where the Vinsanto wines are matured.

These are all made from late-picked, sun-dried grapes. After slow fermentation, the wines have spent all their life in small, old barrels in the Argyros hillside ‘canava’. The yields, already tiny at harvest are reduced at each stage of production: sun drying, evaporation and concentration. From these oldest wines, one hectare will produce around 400 half litre bottles.

NB All are 50 cl bottles

Vinsanto 1982 £129.75 DPD / £127.72 IB per bottle

Vinsanto 1974 £161.65 DPD / £159.62 IB per bottle

Vinsanto 1947 £216.65 DPD / £214.62 IB per bottle

Terms & Conditions

These wines are on offer subject to availability.

Cuvée Palatia 2023 is the estate’s newest wine. Purchase of 1 x case Palatia grants access to purchase the Cuvee wines – Monsignori, Evdemon and Gerontampelo.

Requests for Pure 2022 are considered as this wine is made in tiny volumes and tightly allocated.

Orders can be placed via email to orders@cfwines.co.uk