Beyond Assyrtiko: top Greek whites for 2026
Maltby & Greek co-founder Stef Kokotos shares which Greek white wine trends to watch out for this year. Plus, db reveals why death threats proceeded the rising quality of one of the country’s most underestimated white varieties.
It would not be outlandish to compare Greek Assyrtiko to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I am not speaking in terms of flavour profile but about the heft of its marketing success story. Say the words ‘Greek wine’ to many consumers and they will instantly think of ‘Assyrtiko’. But how has the story moved on?
“When we first started Maltby & Greek 12 years ago, people would automatically associate Greek wine with Retsina,” Stef Kokotos, co-founder of the specialist Greek wine importer, told db. “They would actually recoil at the idea of Greek wine, so for us it’s a great sign that the first thing people now think of is Assyrtiko.”
As for why few other Greek grape varieties have managed to capture the consumer mind quite so well as Assyrtiko, Kokotos points to the fact that: “Greece has so many indigenous varieties, many of them difficult to pronounce…as an importer you can easily get carried away and turn into something of a collector. It can end up being quite an esoteric pursuit.”
Case in point is a small-production red on Maltby & Greek’s books by the name of Avgoustiatis, made using grapes which only ripen in the month of August. Produced on the island of Zakynthos, it’s undoubtedly delicious but the wine, akin to “a cross between a red Burgundy and Cru Beaujolais”, is unlikely to be a runaway commercial success due to the tiny quantities made.
Historic under pricing
Back to whites and Assyrtiko’s comparative success has much to do with the historic under pricing of Santorini wines, claims Kokotos.
“Companies were wholesaling Santorini Assyrtiko at under £10 and retailing it in the low teens. These are centuries-old vines, un-irrigated and basket pruned; wines with incredible verve, intensity and complexity, really powerful whites that leave an impression on people,” he said. Hence Assyrtiko hailing from the island of Santorini, specifically, becoming a flagship for the nation.
Catastrophic harvests
According to Kokotos, Santorini had “a good 20-year run” following the island’s renaissance in the ’90s.
“But prices in Santorini have risen a lot,” said the importer, who was educated in Athens but has lived in the UK for most of his adult life. Consumer demand is one factor in these climbing prices, but climate change is another.
“In recent years, harvests on Santorini have been catastrophically bad, at around 10% of the volumes experienced at the island’s winemaking peak.”
Subsequently, Kokotos said, Santorini’s winemakers are now being forced to look at irrigation, which has not been a part of the island’s viticulture until now. The cruel irony is that the quality of grapes, and subsequently of the wines, from Santorini have risen due to the lower yields leading to greater concentration.
The upshot of all this is that Assyrtiko lovers may need to look to other parts of Greece to get their fix.
“Assyrtiko is planted all around Greece, from the island of Crete to the far north east of the mainland, near the border with Istanbul. Each site offers something different, though Crete probably makes the closest Assyrtiko in terms of style to that from Santorini,” said Kokotos, who believes that the trade now recognises Assyrtiko as a noble variety.
More to Greek whites
That said, this is the year in which people will “start to explore Greek whites beyond Assyrtiko,” Kokotos told db. In particular, he believes that two white grapes have the potential to win over consumers in 2026: Vidiano from Crete, and Robola from Kefalonia.
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“Vidiano is a bit like Viognier, with a slightly oily texture, and notes of peach and apricot,” he explained.
Robola on the other hand, “which has a flintiness, with more honeyed citrus notes” can only be made on its native Kefalonia, home to PDO Robola, and has undergone a dramatic quality revolution in the last 10 years. The grape’s fortunes were somewhat transformed by Konstantinos Bazigos, head of the island’s leading cooperative, who took the helm in 2009 and introduced a controversial pricing tier for growers’ grapes a year or so later.
“Everybody wanted to kill me. I got death threats!” he told db.
However, Bazigos was surprised to discover that his member growers weren’t angry about being paid different prices to one another. Rather, it was a case of wounded pride with everyone wanting bragging rights in the local kafenio that their grapes belonged to the highest tier.
“The first winter after we introduced the pricing tiers we started getting so many phone calls from farmers asking what they needed to do to have their grapes classed as top tier,” he said. “Now, four or five years later, we get practically no bad grapes at all. I’d say that 90% of Robola grapes are of the highest quality.”
He links the success to a mixture of local pride and healthy competition.
“To me, it’s just common sense,” Bazigos said.
Hidden gem
In addition to Vidiano and Robola, Kokotos recommends looking out for something a little more unusual in 2026 — a white expression of Greece’s most famous red wine, Xinomavro.
Maltby & Greek has one such white Xinomavro produced by Magoutes Vineyards, south west of Thessaloniki, from rocky, limestone, low-yielding soils. Priced at £24.50 (retail), the wine is perhaps more of a curiosity at this stage of the consumer awareness journey, much like the Pinot Noir Blanc from New Zealand producer Akitu, but it is without question an outstanding wine.
“Bone dry, the intense chalky mineral citrus flavours combine with intense acidity to deliver a balanced elegance only rivalled by top Chablis,” reads the importer’s tasting notes for the wine. “A wonderful partner to the most luxurious fish that money could buy.”
As Kokotos told db, “there are five or six different Greek appellations that cultivate Xinomavro”, so he urges people to explore the influence that the different locations and terroir can have on the grape, not only in red wine production but in the making of beautifully fresh, mineral whites.
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