A Mykonos wine tasting is a visit to a farm or vineyard to taste wine with local food. You travel by transfer or on a private countryside tour. This post covers the formats, the places, the wines and the booking rules. The homepage lists more Greece Tours like this one.
Each tour card below opens a live GetYourGuide booking. Dates, pickup points and group sizes are shown on each card.
What does a Mykonos wine tasting include?
A Mykonos wine tasting is a visit to a farm, vineyard or local house to taste wine with local food. Each format sets its own wines, snacks and transport, so compare those three points before you book.
A Mykonos wine tasting takes different shapes, so the name alone tells you little. One format walks you through a vineyard. Another seats you at a farm, and a third uses a traditional house. The paragraphs below take each format in turn and state what it includes.
If you plan to cross into Turkey as well, the homepage also lists Turkey tours.
The winery and vineyard experience is a guided walk. You pass through an olive grove, reach the vineyards and see how wine is made. The visit includes the winery and the wine press. A wine tasting follows, with local appetizers and live music on traditional instruments. Hotel pickup and drop-off are not part of this format.
The Mykonos wine tasting at a farm pours four local wines. A snack of local products comes with them. Round-trip transfers run between the farm and your hotel or cruise port. A bus collects guests at the hotel. Guests also learn basic tasting techniques.
The ancient varieties tasting offers a choice of three wines or five. Greek cheese, crackers and spreads are served with the wines. A guide shares details about the ancient Greek varieties in your glass. A driver takes guests from the meeting point to the tasting.
The half-day Mykonos wine tasting works like a short course. You taste six Greek wine labels and learn the stages of tasting. The host prepares a snack of local products to go with the wines. The tasting takes place at a traditional Mykonian house. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included.
The private countryside tour treats the tasting as an option. You choose wine, beer or olive oil when you book. A driver who also acts as informal guide takes your party in a car or a minivan. The tour also includes hotel pickup and drop-off. Meals and beverages are not included.
The farm day tour adds a cooking demonstration. The farm’s sommelier presents three local wines and teaches basic tasting techniques. Guests tour the farm, pet the animals and watch two traditional Greek dishes being made. A meal follows at the farm. Hotel or port pickup and drop-off are included.
If you have no car, pick a format with hotel pickup. The farm tasting, the half-day tasting, the farm day tour and the private countryside tour all include it. Couples and friends suit the private tour, because the vehicle and driver serve your party alone.
Food lovers suit the vineyard walk, with its appetizers, and the ancient varieties tasting, with its cheese and spreads. The farm day tour adds a cooking demonstration and a meal. The half-day tasting suits wine drinkers who want a short course, because it covers the stages of tasting.
A Mykonos wine tasting has fixed parts and open choices. On the farm tasting and the half-day tasting, the format fixes the wines, the snack and the transfer. Your choices are narrow. You pick three wines or five on the ancient varieties tasting. On the private countryside tour you pick wine, beer or olive oil.
Where on the island does a Mykonos wine tasting take place?
A Mykonos wine tasting on a farm takes place in Ano Mera, the island’s only inland village. The village lies about eight kilometres from Chora, almost in the heart of Mykonos. A vineyard grows there too, in the Maou area.
Chora, the main town of Mykonos, stands on the west coast. The farm tasting is not in Chora. It sits in the countryside, close to the middle of the island. A Mykonos wine tasting of that kind starts with a drive across Mykonos.
Ano Mera is the second largest village on Mykonos and the only one inland. It lies about eight kilometres east of Chora, on the way to the north-eastern beaches. The road that joins the two crosses the centre of the island. Farm tours drive along it.
The Maou area belongs to Ano Mera. One wine and food tasting takes place there at an organic farm. The farm stands on the historic vineyard of the Virgin Mary Monastery. A Mykonos wine tasting on a traditional farm is also held near the same village.
Another farm format is the day tour from Ano Mera with a farm meal. It uses the same road across the centre of the island, from Chora to the village. There the drive ends, and guests walk 400 metres to the farm. The farm’s superintendent greets them on arrival.
The half-day format gives a choice of setting: a traditional Mykonian home or a farm. At the home, a sommelier welcomes guests in the dining room. A Mykonos wine tasting of this kind starts with a pickup in the host’s own vehicles. The meeting point can be anywhere on the island.
The winery and vineyard walk is done on foot. The owner of an organic winery leads guests through its vineyards and olive groves. A Mykonos wine tasting in this format looks out over the surrounding vineyards and countryside.
Dry ground and wind shape the vines. Mykonos has a hot semi-arid climate, and the rain shadow of the Pindus mountains keeps the rainfall low. At one vineyard in the Maou area, the grower says the island has little water, rocky soil and strong wind.
That vineyard keeps its vines low because of the wind, and it gives them no irrigation. They take moisture from the air, carried by the sea breeze. The rows run in a straight line, with two metres between the roots. The yield is small, at 3,500 kilograms for each hectare.
The setting of a Mykonos wine tasting changes with the format. The organic vineyard farm has outdoor seating, and so does the traditional farm near the village. On the farm tasting, guests sit in a wine corner designed for the purpose. On the day tour, they reach a sitting area arranged for them.
The private countryside tour covers more ground. It begins at the Armenistis lighthouse, runs through the countryside to Ano Mera and goes on to Kalafatis beach. A last viewpoint looks over Mykonos Town and the Old Port. The tasting is one stop on that route.
Which grapes, wines and local foods does a Mykonos wine tasting pour and serve?
A Mykonos wine tasting pours Greek wines in white, rosé and red. The grapes include Assyrtiko, Athiri, Malagouzia and Mandilaria. Local cheese, olives, cured meat and bread join the glass on different formats. The exact list depends on the farm and the format.
The Cyclades have a long record of wine. In ancient times, the vineyards of Paros, Naxos, Amorgos, Kea and Syros were well known. Centuries of Venetian rule later made the vineyards of the Aegean islands more prominent. A Mykonos wine tasting sits inside that story, although wine production on Mykonos itself is small.
Wine made in the Cyclades can carry the PGI Cyclades label. The zone covers every Cycladic island, so Mykonos sits inside it. It allows white, rosé and red wine, in dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet styles. Two islands, Santorini and Paros, hold their own PDO wines.
At one organic farm, a Mykonos wine tasting pours wines made from the farm’s own grapes. The characteristic varieties are Athiri, Assyrtiko, Malagouzia and Mandilari. The farm makes a dry white, a dry red and a dessert wine. That covers both ends of the sweetness scale.
Athiri is a low-acid white grape and ranks among the ancient varieties. Assyrtiko is native to Santorini, yet the Mykonos farm grows it too. Malagouzia gives a white wine perfumed aromas. Mandilaria is a red grape. Wine from it can be very tannic, so makers blend it with other grapes to soften the feel.
For red wine, the juice ferments together with the grape skins. For white wine, the juice leaves the skins before fermentation. Rosé skins touch the juice only long enough to give it colour. Sweet wine forms when fermentation stops before all the sugar turns into alcohol. These steps sit behind every glass in a Mykonos wine tasting.
The farm tasting names Assyrtiko, Agiorgitiko, Xinomavro and Moschofilero among its grapes. Agiorgitiko makes a soft, fruity red, and Xinomavro a red with a rich tannic character. The farm day tour pours Assyrtiko, Agiorgitiko and Malagouzia. Agiorgitiko comes from Nemea and Xinomavro from Macedonia, so a Mykonos wine tasting reaches beyond the Cyclades.
Greece has about 200 vine varieties, and the earliest evidence of Greek wine is 6,500 years old. The ancient varieties tasting draws on that long list. Its grapes are rare and not easily found on shop shelves. The PGI zone adds native Cycladic grapes such as Aidani, Avgoustiatis and Mavrotragano.
Food follows the same split. The farm tasting serves cheeses, cured meats and olives from nearby farms. The local-house tasting adds bread and small bites to its cheeses and olives. At the organic farm, cold dishes carry local cheeses, kopanisti, louza and seasonal produce. So the plate beside a Mykonos wine tasting depends on the format.
Xinotyro is a Mykonos cheese, salted and well drained, that takes the shape of a cone from its mould. Young, it is a table cheese. Paides are cured pork ribs, and sysera are rib pieces preserved in fat. Olive oil has its own tasting: two award-winning oils against two of lower quality.
How long does a Mykonos wine tasting last and what do the booking rules say?
A Mykonos wine tasting lasts two hours on the vineyard visit and on the tasting of ancient Greek varieties. The farm tasting lasts three hours. Private tours run two to four hours. Age limits, refunds and pickup differ by format.
Two hours is the shortest Mykonos wine tasting. The vineyard visit with local appetizers takes that long, and so does the tasting of ancient Greek varieties. Guests of the second format meet a driver at the meeting point and are told to arrive 20 minutes early.
The farm tasting lasts three hours, and you choose a start at noon or in the evening. A bus collects guests from the hotel or the cruise port. A minimum group must book for the tour to run. If the group is too small, you can pick a different date or experience, or take a full refund.
A private Mykonos wine tasting runs longer. The private countryside tour takes two to four hours, with an optional one-hour tasting stop. A private food and wine tour takes four hours, as a morning or an evening outing. It runs from April through October.
The day tour with a farm visit, a cooking demonstration and lunch takes five hours. Guests are picked up at a hotel or at the old or new port. A client delay beyond 15 minutes affects the transfer schedule of the other guests.
Greece picks grapes from mid-August to late October, depending on the variety, the region and the wine type. A Mykonos wine tasting held in those weeks falls in the harvest season. Ask the host whether grapes hang on the vines on your date.
Age rules depend on the format. The tasting of ancient Greek varieties admits no guest under 18. The half-day tasting at a local house sets a minimum age of 18. On one two-hour vineyard tour, children receive orange juice. Check the age line when you plan a Mykonos wine tasting with a family.
Non-drinkers can join the vineyard tour, and the tour can accommodate dietary restrictions. The half-day tasting at a local house offers a vegetarian option. For the tasting of ancient Greek varieties, tell the operator about any food allergy before the day.
Access differs too. The tasting of ancient Greek varieties is not wheelchair accessible. It is not recommended for guests with walking difficulties, back or knee problems, or pregnancy. The private countryside tour suits all fitness levels. A Mykonos wine tasting for a guest with limited mobility needs the right format.
The private countryside tour and the half-day tasting at a local house both include hotel pickup and drop-off. Nobody drives after the wine. The private tour uses a sedan for one to three people and a minivan for four to eight. Book early for high season, public holidays and weekends.
Each format sets its own cancellation terms. The farm tasting, the ancient-variety tasting and the private countryside tour refund fully when cancelled 24 or more hours ahead. The half-day tasting at a local house refunds nothing. Check the cancellation line and the live dates on the card. Take these along:
- Phone number and hotel name
- Water
- Sun cream
- Comfortable shoes