The best Greek white wines that are more affordable than Santorini assyrtiko

Exhilarating, pithy, and full of refreshing mineral flavours, yet with a satisfying waxy richness, Santorini assyrtiko has become one of the world’s great wines. Greatness, of course, always comes at a price. A few years ago, Santorini assyrtiko was still a supermarket buy. These days, it is so sought-after that, just as those of us on a budget might spend our summer holidays in Airbnbs in the Peloponnese (or in Wales, unless that’s just me?) rather than floating around five-star infinity pools on an Aegean island, we need to hunt elsewhere for our Greek white fix.

The clean, lemony taste of assyrtiko is in huge demand no matter where it’s grown in Greece, but it is more affordable if you look beyond the tiny volcanic island of Santorini and across to the mainland. For instance, the grape thrives in the relative cool of the mountains of Macedonia, in northern Greece. This is a different destination, so don’t expect a simulacrum of a Santorini assyrtiko: think more of the freshness of a lemon grove at dawn than of flashy intensity with honeyed backnotes.

One very good and extremely well-priced example is Athlon Greek Assyrtiko 2024, Macedonia (12%, Aldi, £8.99). Here, the grape is blended with 15 per cent chardonnay, which calms the vibrant citrus of the assyrtiko and brings a slightly creamy texture. I’m guessing the chardonnay is really there in order to make the wine a bit cheaper, but it doesn’t matter what the reason is because it works. I’d grill a piece of white fish and make a lemony new potato and spring onion salad or skordalia (Greek garlicky mashed potatoes with almonds) to eat with this.

Crete is another good place to look, not just for assyrtiko but for a whole array of unusual, herbaceous whites made from indigenous grapes. It is the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean (there’s a quiz question right there: Sicily is the biggest, I’ll leave you to work out the rest), long (160 miles) and narrow, and the wineries are clustered in the centre, to the south of Knossos, and the north-west.