Venetsanos Winery is the cellar that hangs off the caldera above the port of Athinios, on the edge of Megalochori: you taste on a terrace with the cliffs dropping away below and the volcano straight ahead. It is quieter than Santo Wines up the road, and older as a building. Here is what the tastings pour and cost, when the sunset terrace opens, and four ways to visit.
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How we chose these ways to visit Venetsanos Winery
The Venetsanos family built the winery in 1947, and it became the first industrial winery on Santorini. It was dug from the top of the slope downward, on four levels, so that grapes and wine could move by gravity at a time when the island had very little electricity. That makes the building itself part of the visit, not only the view.
We kept one way to book the winery directly and three tours that actually stop here, read on Viator and GetYourGuide. Two are private, with a driver, which matters on an island where the caldera road is narrow and busy at sunset. One is a small-group tour where Venetsanos is one of several possible stops, and we say so plainly. Every price and rating below comes from the booking page, not from memory.
Booking Venetsanos Winery yourself
1. Venetsanos Winery Tastings, Booked Direct
Why it’s on the list. It is the cheapest and most flexible way in. You choose the tasting, the time and how long you stay, and you can add the guided tour of the old gravity cellar, which the tours below rarely include. The full tasting runs through the house range, from the Assyrtiko to the Vinsanto, poured in small glasses.
The trade-off is that you have to get yourself there and back, and someone in your group should not be drinking. The winery does not run transfers; a taxi or the local bus from Fira toward Megalochori works. On busy summer days the terrace is often fully booked, so reserve rather than walk in.
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Book a tasting on the Venetsanos Winery site →
Visiting Venetsanos Winery on a tour
2. Santorini Pickups: Private Tasting and Dinner at Venetsanos
Why it’s on the list. It is the one tour built entirely around Venetsanos Winery. After short stops in Megalochori and at Profitis Ilias, the island’s highest point, you spend about three hours at the winery: five wines with tomato fritters, fava and a cheese and charcuterie platter, then a bottle of the estate’s Platani Athiri for the sunset.
It is private, so the timing follows your group, and it starts in the late afternoon to land on the terrace at the right hour. The limit is the review count: only five so far, all perfect, which is encouraging but thin. Book it for an evening that is the point of the day, not something to squeeze in.
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3. Santorini Premium Tours: Private Tour With the Wine Museum
Why it’s on the list. It puts Venetsanos Winery next to two very different cellars: the underground Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum and Estate Argyros, one of the island’s oldest family estates. Three tastings of four wines each add up to twelve pours, so you leave with a real sense of how far Assyrtiko can stretch.
A private guide drives you door to door, and departure times are flexible, which makes it easy to fit around a boat day or a late lunch. It costs more per person than a shared tour, and the price drops as the group grows. With thirty reviews and a near-perfect score, it is the safest private booking here.
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4. Top Santorini Tours: Small-Group Tour to Three Wineries
Why it’s on the list. It is the most reviewed tour that can include Venetsanos, and the cheapest way to see it with a guide and without driving. The van visits three of five cellars, chosen on the day from Estate Argyros or Art Space, the Koutsoyannopoulos museum, Venetsanos and Anhydrous, with twelve small glasses and a light lunch along the way.
Be clear about the catch: Venetsanos is on the list of possible stops, not guaranteed. If the caldera terrace is the reason you are going, book one of the private tours above or the winery itself. If you want a broad first look at Santorini wine in a group of no more than ten, this is very good value.
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Small-group and private departures, many with hotel pickup.
When to book a sunset at Venetsanos Winery
The sunset terrace is seasonal. It opens from May to September, in the evening, while the main hall terrace serves tastings through the day. Outside those months you can still taste here, but the evening terrace is closed.
- Hours: the main hall terrace is open daily from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm, with the last tasting pour at 6:30 pm. The sunset terrace runs from about 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm in season.
- Book ahead: tasting packages must be booked at least 48 hours in advance, and the winery says it is fully booked most days in summer.
- Plan for wind: the caldera edge is exposed, and on windy days tastings move indoors. A light layer helps even in August.
- For the sunset itself: the late tasting slot or a glass on the sunset terrace is the move; a full tasting ends at 6:30 pm.
What to drink at Venetsanos Winery
The range is small and built on the island’s own grapes. The Santorini is pure Assyrtiko, dry and salty. Nykteri blends Assyrtiko with Aidani and Athiri and sees time in oak. Anagallis is a semi-dry rosé, Mandilaria a dry red from the island’s main red grape, and Liastos joins them on the list. The Vinsanto, made from grapes dried in the sun, is the one to save for last.
Every wine here is vegan, according to the winery. If a bottle wins you over, the winery ships to the US through its own online shop and has an importer in the US, UK and Canada. Our guide to shipping wine home to the US covers the rules if you would rather carry or ship a case yourself.
Prices are indicative and set by our booking partners.
Which cellars to pair with Venetsanos Winery
Venetsanos is a good second or last stop. Santo Wines in Pyrgos is a short drive up the hill and has the busier caldera terrace; pairing the two shows you two very different ideas of a Santorini tasting room. For old vines, Estate Argyros in Episkopi Gonia is the family estate to add, and the Koutsoyannopoulos Wine Museum explains the island’s wine history underground.
For the full picture of the island’s cellars and villages, start with our guide to Santorini wineries, and see Santorini wine tours if you would rather have one day planned for you. If you are deciding where to base yourself, where to stay in Santorini compares the villages for a wine trip.
Driving yourself is easy for the daytime visits, but not after a tasting. If you rent a car, our notes on renting a car for a wine trip apply here too, and the sunset visit is best done with a taxi or a driver.
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