Xinomavro

Xinomavro means "acid black" in Greek, and the name tells you almost everything. It's the great red grape of northern Greece, grown principally in Naoussa and Amyndeon in Macedonia, where it produces pale-coloured wines with high acidity and firm, drying tannins. The comparison with Nebbiolo is unavoidable: similar structure, similar ageing potential, similar refusal to give up its secrets quickly.

Taste

The aromatic register is savoury rather than fruity, running through sour cherry, sun-dried tomato, black olive, dried herbs, leather and tobacco, with floral violet notes and earth on the finish. Tight in youth, complex with a decade in bottle.