Join our 7-day Tasting Holiday on the Greek Aegean Island of Andros 6th July 2019 to 13th July 2019
Exuding the magic of a Greek island, our programme in Andros offers you an ideal blend of relaxation, fun and memorable tasting experiences. Given our passion for wine, we chose the Greek island of Andros, where virtually every householder is a winemaker!
You will visit wineries, including some at the neighbouring island of Tinos, but also a distillery that makes Tsipouro (you may be more familiar with the term Raki used in Crete) and a range of liqueurs. You will have the opportunity of attending Greek cooking classes. You can also experience some fabulous trekking. Andros is famous for its marvellous hiking trails and you can take part in a conducted hike through woodlands, or perhaps participate in yoga classes if less strenuous activity appeals more. There will be a sunset sail with a picnic on board made up of locally produced food and wine. Plenty of time will be available to enjoy the sun and sea. As well as tasting wine at wineries, you will have several wine tastings at the villa.
Departing from our usual custom, the entire holiday will be based at one location – the Heliades Luxury Villas. It is like staying at a charming high-class hotel but with a small group of between four and twelve people with common interests. The rooms are serviced every day and when we are not eating out, delicious food is brought to the table.
Below is the programme we have put together:
Show more Your wine-tasting holiday starts at 6pm in the luxury villa of Heliades, but you can arrive anytime in the afternoon. We will arrange to collect you from the port of Gavrios when your ferry docks. A buffet supper will be waiting for you in the evening so that you can settle in, relax by the pool, and rest after your journey. Day 1. Arrive at Gavrios port in Andros. A splendid buffet supper will be provided for you in the villa. We will introduce you to the most well-known Greek grape varieties and then indulge in a little tasting. Day 2. Breakfast of your choice. The morning is devoted to relaxation on the beach or by the pool, prior to our “Welcome Lunch” at a superb traditional taverna. Incidentally, the proprietor makes his own wine – and a very respectable one at that! As we said earlier, most inhabitants of Andros make their own wine. In the evening, before and during supper, we will have a tasting of Greek organic wines. Day 3. We will visit the Ioannou winery where as well as having a tour of the winery and tasting their wines, we will have brunch provided for us. There will be time to relax before attending a Greek Cookery class at the villa. Our resultant meal will be paired with suitable Greek wines and we’ll have a tasting on a specific theme – perhaps Greek prize-winning wines. Day 4. This day is devoted to quite a lot of wine touring. After breakfast, we set off for the neighbouring island of Tinos where we will visit at least two wineries. We will find organic wines and wines of different varieties to the well-known Greek styles. We will visit vineyards where vines grow in an extraordinary surreal setting. We’ll lunch at a traditional village taverna. We’ll choose a couple of the wines that we taste in Tinos, and take back some bottles to drink with our evening meal in our Andros villa. Day 5. Following the previous day’s exertions in Tinos, the focus for the day will be on holiday fun and relaxation. After a hearty breakfast, we’ll take you to the beach for swimming, windsurfing, yoga classes or other holiday activity of your choice. We plan a substantial barbecue at the villa in the evening (with wine tasting of course) so we would rather you did not indulge too much at lunchtime. We therefore propose a packed lunch of Greek delicacies. Day 6. Andros is a fabulous island for trekking. If you like hiking, a visit to this magical island would be incomplete without an organised hike through the woodlands. For those who want it, this is what we propose for this sixth day, with lunch at a village taverna. We would like to follow this up with a sunset sail in the evening – with of course wine and food aboard. Day 7. We plan to go a bit further and visit the Cyclades Olive Oil museum in Pitrofos and you will also have a cooking class in that area. We’ll eat the results of what we cook. We’ll visit the new Androp Tsipouro distillery also in Pitrofos and see how they make different blends to make a variety of Tsipouros and liqueurs. We’ll then move on to Chora for a conducted walk around this beautiful old town and later on, we’ll have supper at one of the lovely tavernas there. Day 8. Our final treat for you – before returning you to your ferry for Rafina is to lunch at a popular restaurant, within a farm, offering top quality food produced in that farm. Such is the essence and broad outline of our 7-day wine-tasting holiday. There may be some changes brought about by express preferences of the group or outside influences such as the weather. We would not want, for example, to have our sunset sail in rough seas. Show less
What’s Included:
Within the tour start and finish points included are: All accommodation, meals, which include wine (except at breakfast), winery visits and tastings, any other visits, transport, any boat trips that we organize and your tour guide.
What’s not included:
Flights or other transport to Gavrios Port at the wine-holiday start and from there when the wine-holiday ends. Any additional bottles of drink that you might wish to purchase for personal consumption later.
