Canava Roussos: the Island's Oldest Winery

Where Santorini wine’s modern story starts

Every other winery page on this site eventually says “oldest” about something — oldest vines, oldest style, oldest cave. Here the word needs no qualifier: CanavaA traditional Santorini winery — originally a cave or barrel-vaulted cellar cut into the volcanic rock, where wine was pressed and aged. Many of the island’s modern tasting rooms still sit inside one. Roussos has made wine continuously since 1836, five generations of one family in the same canava, which makes it the oldest working winery on the island by a comfortable margin. When this cellar pressed its first vintage, Greece itself was six years old.

The style honors that ledger. Roussos pours the traditional register largely as their great-grandparents defined it: Nykteri in the old, sun-warmed idiom; Nama, the sweet communion-style wine most visitors have never met; and a Vinsanto from a house that helped set the template. Nothing here chases scores. Everything here tastes like continuity.

The least pretentious tasting on the island

The setting is a garden courtyard against the original stone arches — vine shade, worn tables, barrels within touching distance — with a small taverna and a summer events amphitheater (“Santorini Evenings”) attached. Prices belong to another decade: samples from around €3, glasses around €6, with a modest four-wine flight reported recently. Walk-ins are welcome for parties up to about five; larger groups should phone ahead, because there’s no online booking and the family’s own website has seen better days — a gap this page exists to fill.

One honest caution: published hours conflict across recent sources (midday-to-afternoon Monday–Saturday in some, longer daily summer hours in others). If Roussos is a pilgrimage rather than a passing stop, confirm by phone before driving out — or visit on a tour where the timing is pre-confirmed for you.

How do you fit Canava Roussos into a wine day?

Mesa Gonia sits below Pyrgos on the island’s quiet flank, minutes from the cave Wine Museum — a pairing so natural our First Sip budget tour is built on exactly those two stops: museum history first, living history second, €95 all-in. The same pair anchors our cruise shore edition for ship days. Independent travelers can add the ghost-village upper quarter of Mesa Gonia — half-abandoned since the 1956 earthquake, hauntingly beautiful — for the island’s best free history lesson between glasses.

What should I know before visiting Canava Roussos?

Canava Roussos, founded in 1836 in Mesa Gonia, is the oldest working winery on Santorini — five generations of one family in the original canava, pouring the traditional register: NykteriThe “night harvest” style: Assyrtiko picked before dawn and pressed the same day, fermented to higher ripeness — fuller and warmer than the classic dry white, often with a whisper of oak. in the old idiom, Nama, the sweet communion-style wine, and VinsantoThe island’s amber crown: sun-dried Assyrtiko, Athiri, and Aidani, barrel-aged for years into a sweet wine of apricot, caramel, and coffee held fresh by improbable acidity.. Tastings happen in a garden courtyard against the 1836 stone arches, with a small taverna and summer amphitheater attached. Prices belong to another decade: samples from around €3, glasses around €6, and a four-wine flight reported recently at about €15 — confirm at the door. Walk-ins are welcome for parties up to about five; larger groups should phone ahead, as there is no online booking. One caution: published hours conflict across recent sources — midday-to-afternoon Monday–Saturday in some, longer summer hours in others — so confirm by phone before a special trip. Our First Sip budget tour pairs it with the Wine Museum for €95, and the cruise shore edition does the same on ship days.