Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Boutari’s basic Naoussa is a bargain in 2016, a vintage that started off hot and fast but mellowed by September. It’s lean and elegant, with tangy, spicy plum-skin flavors and notes of fresh earth adding breadth. The tannins feel long and buffed, firm enough to allow this to age well for another five to ten years in the cellar, but fine enough to enjoy the wine now, with roast leg of lamb.
Native to Greece, Xinomavro is widely regarded the finest red wine of the country. Its name literally means “acid black”, and attains fullest potential in the country’s northwest region of Naoussa. These single varietal bottlings of Xinomavro (blending is not allowed here) are often compared to the fine Barolos of Italy for their structure, finesse and age-worthiness. While its vines are fickle and blue-black grapes grow in tight clusters, similar to Nebbiolo, Xinomavro actually appears unrelated. Somm Secret—The use of French oak can help tame Xinomavro but too much can overwhelm it. Some eschew oak entirely during winemaking; other producers use locally-grown walnut.
Naoussa is home to one of Greece’s most age-worthy reds: Xinomavro. Flourishing on the sun-exposed, southeastern-facing slopes of Mount Vermio between 700 to 1,700 feet in elevation, some say Xinomavro is Greece's red counterpart to its famous white, Assyrtiko. Others liken it to Italy's well-respected, highly perfumed and powerful, Nebbiolo.