Here's How You Can Drink Wine Grown on the Battlegrounds of Greek Gods

In Tinos, wine has been produced for thousands of years.

Greece has a lot of great things going for it. Its food is replicated the world over because it's just that good. Its natural beauty is unmatched. And its cultural attractions bring in millions of dollars in tourism revenue each year. However, there is one area where Greece isn't as revered: Its wines. Though it doesn't necessarily carry the same cachet as a region like Northern California, France, or even the Douro Valley in Portugal, what it does have on its side is time. Lots and lots of time. Because Greece has been making wine for more than 6,000 years. And you can sip on all that history at one exceptional island vineyard.

Tucked away on the island of Tinos, a tiny island in the Cyclades archipelago, you'll find T-Oinos, a vineyard that holds all that history in its plump little grapes, which are said to have grown here for much of the nation's 6,000-year wine history.

Getting to this vineyard does take a bit of work. You must wind and weave your way through the mountainous terrain on this otherwise diminutive island, driving from the azure waters, through white-washed towns, fields of flowers in the spring and summer, all the way up to its craggy peak. There, you're met with a Martian landscape punctuated by massive boulders, said to be the "remnants of a mythical battle between gods and giants," according to the vineyard. In less fantastical terms, the vineyard explains, these granite rocks formed some 15-25 million years ago, shaped by the unique environment, including the hot summer days and cold winter nights, the high humidity, and salty air, making them all into perfect spheres. However, this vineyard's real secret is the "meltemi wind," which comes from the north and keeps temperatures lower than the rest of the region.

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It's between these rocks that travelers will find the ancient vines, which produced wines for thousands of years until it was abandoned in the 1800s, as those living on the island were forced to abandon wine production, replacing it with traditional farming due to a lack of funds. Thankfully, the vineyard got an overhaul 25 years ago by Alexandre Avatangelos and Gerard Margeon to turn it back into a working vineyard bottling some of Greece's best wines.

It's easy to see the meticulous effort and care the duo put into the terroir as you wander through the vines. T-Oinos wines are made using strict organic and biodynamic principles, an idea that's of the utmost importance to its master vigneron, Stéphane Derenoncourt, who believes in minimal intervention to keep the grapes as natural as possible from farm to bottle and ensuring the land can continue to produce for thousands of years to come.

The vineyards are strategically placed to allow the grapes to take on unique characteristics, including the Stegasta plateau, a nearly 20-acre plot located 1,541 feet above sea level. The soil here is loose and sandy, on top of granite bedrock, which is a challenge for growing grapes, no doubt. However, the granite soil and the sea air give the Assyrtiko wine grapes (brought over from cuttings from Santorini) a distinct minerality that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. There's also the Rassonas and Agios Dimitrios terraces, located at 1,200 feet just a bit down the hill. The first sits on clay schist soil and faces east, growing Mavrotragano grapes for its Clos Stegasta red​​. The second, even further down toward the valley, is in the full sun on sandy schist soil, which allows all the vineyard's Mavrotragano grapes to grow in their own microclimate, providing fine reds, each giving a unique taste in every T-Oinos bottle.

The vineyard produces just 25,000 bottles a year, once again showcasing its commitment to quality over quantity. Travelers can come for a tour and a tasting, which includes time in the vineyard, in the cellar, and concludes in the tasting room, with tastings of its Clos Stegasta Asyrtiko, Mavrosé, and Close Stegasta Mavrotragano wines. You may even get lucky and have the chance to purchase a bottle of its Clos Stegasta Assyrtiko Rare or Mavrotragano Rare. If you can't make it all the way to the island, you can sometimes find bottles in top restaurants around Athens and Mykonos and the U.S., France, Switzerland, the UK, Japan, and Italy in extremely limited quantities. However, if you can, it's worth an in-person visit. Because how often can you say you've sipped rare wines on the battleground of gods?