Just had to share this image that Christina Boutari sent me yesterday to post over at the Boutari blog.

Look at the rich color of the ripe Assyrtiko, a grape variety that has captivated U.S. wine professionals over the last few years.

Harvest is expected to begin early this year in Greece, writes Christina. “It was a warm year overall,” she told me in an email.

Boutari will begin picking Saturday, she said.

Santorini, where Assyrtiko is cultivated, is such an amazing place, entirely unique in the panorama of Mediterranean viticulture.

Here’s a thread of posts on Santorini and my visit there and here are my notes on the origins of the toponym Santorini and enonym Vinsanto.