"The enologists at the bigger wineries held the wineries back," Sigalas says now. "They weren’t so enthusiastic about Mavrotragano. They thought the conditions weren’t right for red wine. Now they see that it will change the image of Santorini’s wines. Not just its red wines, but all its wines."

Until recently, anyone attempting to find a vineyard of Mavrotragano on Santorini would have been disappointed. No vineyard that consisted solely of a red variety existed on the island. Mavrotragano usually grows intermingled with Santorini’s other grapes. Its traditional use is in a homemade sweet wine that is rarely bottled.

As late as the 1930s, vast plantings of Mavrotragano were said to have covered Santorini. These were pulled out, little by little, in favor of either hotel development or the more dependably revenue-producing Assyrtiko. By 2000, Mavrotragano accounted for less than two percent of the island’s annual harvest – and Mandalaria, the favored red variety, not much more than that. Red wines on Santorini seemed in danger of extinction.

To many minds, that wouldn’t have been much of a loss. Conventional wisdom states that Santorini, with irregular temperatures during the growing season and fierce winds, will never produce a great red wine. The majority of that wisdom has come from producers of Mandalaria, a difficult-to-ripen variety that rarely reaches its full potential on Santorini. "I love Mandalaria," says Nico Manessis, one of the foremost experts on Greek wine, "but not there." Several of Santorini’s producers make a passable Mandalaria, but almost nobody believes that it can lift the image of Santorini’s reds any higher than it already has – which isn’t high at all. "We try," says producer George Gavalas. "but Mandalaria doesn’t help us."

In truth, the island does have some conditions that are propitious for red wines. The phylloxera louse that ravaged most other grape-growing regions around the world couldn’t gain a foothold in the volcanic soil, so Santorini’s vineyards remain uninfected. And though no rain typically falls from February through October, the low-lying clouds that roll in off the sea often blanket vineyards with moisture. "It hasn’t rained, but we wake up in the morning and the vineyards are wet," says Hatzidakis.Still, the vast majority of Santorini’s production has always been white.
Only one appellation exists on the island, and only one wine is sanctioned. It must consist of at least 90 percent of Assyrtiko grape, blended if desired with Athiri and Aidani. If you make wines using any other kinds of grapes, you aren’t permitted to use the Santorini name on your label.

Accordingly, most of the island’s wineries have always figured that reds, difficult to make and almost impossible to market without the Santorini name, were barely worth the trouble. "I haven’t promoted my red wine," says Kostas Antoniou, a jeweler and part-time winemaker who makes one of the island’s best Mandalarias for his Antoniou Wines. "Santorini is famous for its white wines, so most people don’t bother with the red. Besides, they like to drink white wines. It’s hot here."