Why it matters
The producer
Domaine Sigalas is a Santorini estate founded by Paris Sigalas, Christos Markozane and Yiannis Toundas. Its first vintage was Paris Sigalas's 1991 Santorini, presented as the first wine to carry the Protected Designation of Origin label. That beginning links the producer to the island's move from family cellar wine into clearly labelled bottled wine.
The early wines were made in the traditional underground canava of the Sigalas family. In 1998, vinification, bottling and ageing moved into a new facility. The producer now works across a broader range of Assyrtiko wines, with the standard Santorini bottling carrying the widest view of the island and Kavalieros narrowing the focus to one block.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The winery sits among vineyards in Baxedes, on the Oia plain in northern Santorini. Oia is therefore more than a name on a map: it locates the estate inside the northern part of an island where Assyrtiko is the central white grape and where vineyard work must account for aridity, intense sunshine and strong seasonal winds.
That setting shapes the range. Santorini gathers fruit from selected island blocks, while Kavalieros comes from one block in Imerovigli. The label changes from a broad island address to a defined hillside source, and the bottle becomes a closer comparison of place within Santorini.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The surrounding vineyards are cultivated sustainably. The dated 2025 estate announcement records 45 cultivated hectares, including 17 newly planted hectares. Santorini's basket training keeps bunches low and enclosed, a practical response to wind, sun and aridity that protects the fruit before it reaches the winery.
The estate's stated annual production is 200,000 bottles, while its vinification, bottling and ageing infrastructure can process about 300,000 bottles per year. Those figures describe current output and working capacity separately. The cellar's stated approach is one of ongoing experimentation, with the effect of each decision carried into different Assyrtiko bottlings.
Wines to know
The range in view
The official range lists five distinct Assyrtiko wines: Santorini, Santorini Barrel, Kavalieros, Epta and Nychteri. Santorini is the broad island bottling, assembled from selected island blocks. It is the widest view of the estate's source material and carries the 100% Assyrtiko designation.
Santorini Barrel is a separate bottling within the line-up, while Kavalieros comes from one block in Imerovigli. The first wine gathers island fruit into one bottle; the second holds the place more narrowly. Epta and Nychteri complete the Assyrtiko range as distinct bottlings, giving the estate several ways to present the same principal grape through different wine choices.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Santorini, the 100% Assyrtiko bottling assembled from selected island blocks. The 2024 vintage offers bergamot, white peach, lively freshness and a tangy, salty finish, so the wine puts grape and island in the same glass without narrowing the source to one parcel. It is the right first bottle because it gives the broadest view of Domaine Sigalas before a move to Kavalieros and its single block in Imerovigli.