EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY AT THE LOWEST QUANTITY EVER
2024 was one more challenging harvest for Santorini resulting in the smaller production ever recorded in the island. In fact, it was described as hardly “two baskets of grapes” by Stellios Boutaris. The 5th generation winemaker and CEO at Domaine Sigalas praised the outstanding quality of the vintage, nevertheless expressed serious concerns regarding the quantity.
“Climate change demands a strategic shift in the way we think leaving behind rigidities and stereotypical narratives“, Stellios Boutaris noted. “At Domaine Sigalas we have accelerated our investment in that direction, focusing on scientific knowledge and research. When we say that the Santorinian viti-vini heritage must be preserved, we mean to render it sustainable not a museum piece. We are working for a dynamic future that will be able to highlight the uniqueness of the local vineyard, together with its ability to adapt and regenerate when needed. Resilience is among the most valuable legacies and the most powerful incentives for the next generations of the island’s growers to carry on”.
According to Kostas Tellis, Domaine Sigalas Viticulturist, “the weather conditions recorded during the 2023-2024 growing season were a synthesis and a sequence of adversities. Still the extra burden came from the fact that those patterns followed and built up the equally tough challenges of the previous year. That is the critical factor that increases the complexity of the challenges we have to tackle overrunning the context we used to describe as heroic viticulture”.
THE CONDITIONS MET IN SANTORINI DURING THE 2023-2024 GROWING SEASON
Temperatures
Warm winter with an mean temperature of 14οC that led to the atypical stop of the vines’ winter dormancy and to the disparate bud break that took place 15 days earlier than the previous year and 7 days earlier than the average. During shoot and leaf growth, higher than usual Santorini temperatures were recorded, exceeding by 2 οC the average of the previous year. Moreover, the over 36οC on June and July stressed the vines resulting in partial leaf loss in some parts of the island. Notable was the lack of the trademark dew (humidity) that cools the plants during the night.
Rainfall
For the third consecutive year, rain was much lower than the average with serious impact on the production and the sustainable future 
of the vineyard. More specifically, during the period September 2023-August 2024, 206 mm of rain was recorded, 80 mm lower than the average of the last 15 years (2010-2024).
Although in comparison between the two aforementioned periods (as shown in the table), the rain distribution was rather similar on a monthly basis throughout the year (main precipitation from October to March), the crucial differentiation was the fact that this year round, most rainfall events reached 10mm or lower, therefore, non-beneficial for the vines as the water was quicky evaporated, unable to be stored in the deeper layers of the soil.
Winds
Mostly northerly winds were recorded that do not favor the creation of the benchmark morning dew (knows as “anedosa”) keeping humidity low and intensifying the drought. Furthermore, two windstorm incidents took place. The first one was on the last days of March with gusts reaching 90km/h, contributing to the production decrease by 5-10%. The second phenomenon at the end of May was milder, causing damages to vegetative parts of some plants but not to the grapes.
Extreme weather phenomena
On 4 May, for the second year in a row, hail struck over Megalochori and Akrotiri villages. Despite its medium intensity, it caused a further 30% decrease in the production of the specific areas.
All the above conditions contributed to the decrease of the total production of the island by 30-40% depending on the area. As a result, the price of the grapes increased by 20-30% compared to last year, reaching the highest ever price for the Santorini vineyard.
HARVEST FOR DOMAINE SIGALAS
Undoubtedly, it was one of the most outstanding years in terms of quality for our Domaine.
The village of Oia, from where comes the vast majority of our production, faced a milder heat stress (3-4οC lower) during summer compared to areas lying within the island’s interior. The meso-climate of Oia played a crucial role, benefiting from its northernmost, coastal location and the favorable northern wind blowing straight from the sea with no obstacles in between.
The ripening was normal, evident of the plants’ capacity to overcome the challenging conditions. At the same time. the health of the vines was exceptional in every part of the island, mainly due to the dry weather, to the constant winds and the limited vegetative growth of the plants.
The conditions led to one of the earliest harvests in recent years. We kicked 0ff with Mavrotragano (red) on 29 July and with Mandilaria (red) a few days later. We continued with Assyrtiko (white) and Athiri (white) starting from the earliest harvested areas and reached the 16th of August to receive the always last to harvest variety of Aidani (white).
FIRST QUALITY ESTIMATIONS FOR 2024 VINTAGE
According to Sara Iakovidou, Domaine Sigalas winemaker, everything so far indicates an exceptional year in terms of quality. Towards the end of fermentation for most part, the first impressions are excellent. “Assyrtiko with body and structure, very good acidity level, fruit-forward. Rich aromas for Mavrotragano, with good acidity and rich color. If one thing is missing from 2024 vintage that is the quantity”.
Stellios Boutaris has entrusted this young team to recreate the precious Sigalas legacy. From left to right: Kostas Tellis, viticulturist – Sara Iakovidou, winemaker – George Macheras, Cellar Manager, and Yiannis Boutaris, 6th generation in wine and brand ambassador.
Stellios Boutaris’ estimation about hardly “two baskets of grapes” printed on our 2024 Sigalas harvest t-shirts. The drawing was made by Stellios. 
A much deserved standing ovation for our 2024 Sigalas Harvest team.
FOR MORE INFO ABOUT 2024 HARVEST, PLEASE CONTACT [email protected]
Rainfall distribution period lasted from October to June in 2023 (190mm of rain in 9 months), compared to the 320mm in 7 months (October to April) recorded in the previous season. As shown on the chart, equally interesting is the comparison with the last 20-year average when the rain distribution followed a rather typical seasonal climax, peaking during winter. That has not been the case of this season that displayed a discontinuous pattern; Ιn addition, due to the rain in May and June, there was a need for plant protection.
