Its all Greek to me

The quest to broaden my palate never really ends, but it ususally takes layovers in interesting places. Tonight's selection happened to be from Greece, where Im told their indiginous varieties make for forceful, spicy, racy reds. I decided to start with a fairly common Greek grape, the Xinomavro (also spelled with a Y instead of I in some places). Our wine hails from the region of Naoussa, a region known for its ageworthy Xinomavros and is widely considered one of the top Greek regions, so lets taste!



Price (Paid in Ithaca NY): $13.

Maker: Boutari.

Vintage: 2004.

Country/Appelation: Greece/Naoussa.

Varietal/Blend: 100% Xinomavro.

Special Designations: None

Nose: The smell is fruity, definite raspberry ice cream before the air gets in, then it settles into a warm fruit, almost like a sweeter, milder cranberry.



Taste: The taste is fruity upfront, similar to the smell, before giving way to an allspice and cinnamon combo through the middle, and tannins running rampant over the fruit at the end as well as some of the spice back in the middle. Not totally well balenced, the fruit doesn't fill out the spice and tannins, so its a bit out of whack, but interesting and enjoyable all the same. (On a side note, after more air, the wine came into better balance, but lost much of its spice and settled into a lightly spiced gentle cherry with good matching structure, very enjoyable, but not as interesting as the first glass)



QPR: Very Good QPR, you can do better, but this will get you thinking and leave you happy.



Good Pairings: Strong cheeses and seasoned meat would pair well here. The spice in the wine also compliments sharper garlic flavors and is really quite versitile. Try it with something out of the ordinary and see how it goes!



Final Thoughts: This was a great wine to pick up for the price. Even if it did take some getting used to after we tasted it initially, it did mellow out and even out after some time, although it lost some of the extra flavors that made it fun at first. This is a wine you could easily drink either way, as a decanted lighter side to dinner, or as a racy red to accompany sharp foods right out of the bottle.