Paris Sigalas came to winemaking from mathematics and established his organic winery on his ancestral island of Santorini near the northern town of Oia. Santorini is a traditional wine producing area and has exported the famous sweet wine known as Vin Santo (the etymology of “Santo” is from Santorini) for centuries. This volcanic island, although very dry and sunny, is cooled by extremely strong summer winds, and the soils are composed of dense volcanic ash which comes in a number of forms and colours. Santorini is home to an extraordinary number of native varietals (Assyrtiko, Athiri and Aidani among the whites, Mavrotragano and Mandilaria among the reds to name only a few) and is one of the few places in the Old World to have remained unaffected by phylloxera. Sigalas’s dry Assyrtiko wines are the best we have tasted.