Wine Fills The Heart With Courage

Ajit Balgi interviews Paris Sigalas of Domaine Sigalas in Santorini, a wine region in Greece that pre-dates Plato

- Ajit Balgi

Santorini’s wine story began even earlier than Plato, around 4,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest continuously planted wine regions in the world. Its volcanic soils, the result of a volcanic eruption in 1,600 BC, made it immune to phylloxera – an immunity that continues to protect it till today. However, all that beneficially endowed land was used for making wines solely for personal consumption. It is only during the last 40 or 50 years that the region has seen the rise of a modern wine industry – with traditional grapes like aidani, assyrtiko and athiri. One of the pioneers of the quality wine scene in Greece is mathematicianturned-winemaker, Paris Sigalas of Domaine Sigalas, a winery in Oia, Santorini.

How did you, a mathematician, become a vintner?

My grandfather was from Finikia, Santorini. In the 1920s, when people were leaving the island for better prospects he decided to stay back. Winemaking, on a yearly basis, was an inherent part of the family duties and it was passed on from generation to generation. I learnt winemaking from my father and I practised it whilst I was a high school mathematics teacher. I made wine for my family and also took it for tastings when I met friends. It was whilst drinking my wine at a tavern one day, that my friends praised the quality of my wine, finding it exceptionally good. That’s when my craving to take the next step was born. I went commercial in 1991.