red grape · regional staple
Xinomavro
Macedonia, Greece
Say it
ksee·noh·mah·vroh
Initial X = "ks" as in "extra"; name means acid-black in Greek (xino = sour/acid, mavro = black)
On the palate
red cherrystrawberrysun-dried tomatoolivedried herbstobacco
How you spot it blind: sun-dried tomato and olive tapenade aromas, diagnostic among red grapes
The story
First written down · 1831, Naoussa (Cousinery, Ottoman-era travel account)
Phylloxera cut Naoussa's plantings from ~2,200 to ~50 hectares by the early 20th century; Yiannis Boutaris began replanting in 1968, and Naoussa became Greece's first PDO in 1971.
Where it lives
Naoussa, Greece · Amynteo, Greece · Goumenissa, Greece · Rapsani, Greece
Shows up as
still redrosésparklingsweetNaoussaAmynteo
If you like this, try
Also answers to Xynomavro, Niaoussa, Popolka.
Shop our Xinomavro bottles