Michael Holzer, who had watched the Greek wine episode on Wine Library TV, contacted me towards the end of May. Michael is a physician who works at the University of Miami and travels a lot with his 5-year old daughter. I highly recommend you read about their adventures here: www.mytb.org/throughmyeyes.

This year’s summer trip was to be in South Africa for the football world cup; in addition, they had also planned to visit Greece for a few days. After having watched the Wine Library episode, Michael became so interested in the Xinomavro varietal that he actually changed his already fully planned schedule to make time to visit some of the producers I recommended to him.

I just received the following message from him that I would like to share (kind permission received):

I had a great time in Greece and the wine tasting was awesome….definitely a big fan of Xinamavro.  Went to Alpha Estate and spent a couple hours with Angelos Iatridis who took me around the winery. I was lucky because there was a big tasting the day before so I was able to taste their whole line including a few different years of their top wines.  Really enjoyed their flagship blend, as well as their top Xinamavro and a Tannat.
 
Also went to Dalamara and Kir Yianni, both I enjoyed.
 
The highlight though was the time I spent with Apostolos Thimiopoulos.  He took me around the hills of Naoussa, let my daughter play with his rabbits, served us good food, and tasted his incredible wine, including barrel tasting of the 2008 Uranos which was incredible….I was also able to get some of the 2007 off him as well….he was very impressed how I came all the way to Naoussa after watching the wine library episode…..Really is a great person, who makes some incredible wine.
 
Thanks again for all the info and introducing me to some great Greek wine….I brought back a bunch of bottles as well to drink over the years. 

Thank you so much Michael, I am delighted that you had such a rewarding time. The pictures with the winemakers speak for themselves ;) And what great way to introduce your cute daughter to the world of wine!

What surprised me was that the majority of the bottles were the basic wines from the relevant estates. If the basic wines are capable of ageing so gracefully, a lot more complexity should be expected from the premium wines. What scares me is that the quality of the Xinomavros has shot through the roof over the last few years. The best wines from recent vintages have a tremendous potential to reward anyone who has the time and patience to cellar them for a long time. In 10 years time, people won’t believe just how well these wines delivered.

I would like to thank Dimitris Hatzinikolaou and Yiannis Liberopoulos who organised this evening and also led the tasting. It was a fascinating evening, well done!

For more background information on Xinomavro, please read this article at Palate Press.

I indicate below if the wine was the basic or premium product of the estate.

1992 Boutari, Xinomavro (basic)
Fully mature colour with ruby rim. Very open on the nose and quite fruit driven, lots of raspberry and vegetal aromas. If such a thing like “tomato jam” would exist, it surely would smell similar! There were also hints of chocolate and cinnamon. The wine was smooth yet full on the palate and the tannins still had a bite left. I found it to be dried out towards the finish, a bit thin with a bitter note. The nose was great, the palate disappointing. I need to note that this wine received the most votes of the night, so my palate was not in line with the crowd on this particular wine. 14/20

1993 Boutari, Xinomavro (basic)
Again a fully matured colour, but a touch darker in the middle. The nose was much more vegetal than the 1992, with a low primary fruit level. The aromas were dominated by tealeaves and very ripe tomatoes; also a touch of barnyard, with fruits lingering in the background. I liked this nose a lot. The wine was much more lively on the palate with lots of depths and elegance; the mid-palate dominated by ripe and fresh raspberries flavours. The finish was very long, and the fruit crept back up in the aftertaste. A lovely experience! 17+/20
  
1996 Fountis, Naoussa (basic)
Medium deep cherry colour with a ruby rim. The wine was a bit closed at first, but after a minute it opened up. The aromas reminded me of stewed prunes, there was certainly some sweetness in it. In addition this had a toasted smell, which added an interesting twist to the nose. On the palate the wine was full-bodied with a good level of acidity. The tannins were very smooth, but still there. The finish was a bit short and slightly dried out. The wine really delivered right up to the mid-palate; then it quickly disappeared. 15/20

1996 Fountis, Ktima (premium)
Lighter in colour than the basic wine of the same estate, fully mature with an orange rim. The nose was more refined and elegant – red fruits, dark chocolate and coffee. The wine was full-bodied; but as the fruit just started to kick in, it became totally overpowered by the harsh tannins. Sorry, this one won’t be coming around – the tannins have a license to kill. 13+

1997 Kir Yianni, Ramnista (basic)
Gorgeous medium deep garnet with a slightly mature rim. The nose had a surprisingly high level of primary fruit, lots of raspberry flavours, very elegant and teasing. The palate was packed with fresh fruits, the acidity was perfect and the tannins were very smooth and fully integrated. It was mouth-filling; yet not heavy at all, with a long and ever so smooth finish. This is aged Xinomavro at its best, pure elegance in a glass. It is perfect to drink now, but will keep for some years to come. 18/20

2000 Boutari Grande Reserve (premium)
Medium deep bright cherry with only a touch of maturity on the rim. The nose combined vegetal aromas, tomatoes, roasted nuts and caramel, a very interesting combination. On the palate the wine was elegant, raspberries dominated the mid-palate, and the tannins were soft and nicely integrated, the good acidity level lent freshness. There is no rush to drink this wine up, although it might be at the start of its peak. If you look for a soft wine that embodies elegance, this is for you. It could do with a just tiny little bit more bite. 17/20

2000 Kir Yianni, Ramnista (basic)
Light to medium garnet with matured orange rim. The nose was full of vegetal aromas, but also tealeaves and raspberries came through. The wine was round and full on the palate, slightly sweet with a good level of fruit. The tannins were still fairly strong. The mid-palate really was the highlight, very rewarding indeed. The finish was solid, but not as pronounced as the 1997. 16+/20

2005 Vaeni Co-op (basic)
Medium deep strawberry colour, just lightening up on the rim. The nose exhibited a very typical “Beaujolais Noveau” style, which is extremely untypical for a Xinomavro. Lots of cherry aromas, quite fruit driven without any hints of vegetal characteristics. It was similar to a “light” version of a Xinomavro wine. The palate was fairly light with little complexity, but a very nice fresh and fruity wine. I never thought I would ever write this about Xinomavro, but this particular wine was a fresh and easy drinking quaffing wine that was well made. Think about basic Beaujolais that manages to keep its freshness for quite a few years. 15/20

2000 Tsantali, Rapsani Epilegmenos (basic)
Note: OPAP Rapsani wines consist of equal parts of Xinomavro, Krassato and Savroto.
Very deep purple, no maturity at all. The nose was very interesting and combined dark fruits with herbs and roasted nuts. On the palate, the wine was full-bodied, with flavours of cherries, raspberries and chocolate. It was very smooth and fresh, a vibrant wine that lacked possibly some depth, but was drinking rather well.  16/20

2007 Chatzivaritis, Goumenissa (premium)
Note: Under OPAP Goumenissa rules, Negoska must be at least 20% of the blend with Xinomavro.
Medium deep cherry. Aromas of roasted nuts and cherries, also exhibited a nice earthiness, quite concentrated. Full and round on the palate, with raspberries and almond flavours. It became bigger from the start to the finish, the tannins were present, but were already nicely integrated. The style was certainly quite modern. 15+/20

The annual Voroina wine exhibition took place in the heart of Athens, where the wineries of Northern Greece showed their current vintages. Last year I went in the evening, and the event was so well visited that I had a hard time evaluating the wines. This year, I was able to visit at noon, when the Voroina was only open to wine professionals. Having said that, after an hour the exhibition was again very well attended.

I focused mainly on tasting wines from producers that I was not that familiar with, as I have tasted many wines from the well known producers like Pavlidis, Wine Art Estate, Gerovassiliou, Kir Yiannis, Alpha Estate, Biblia Chora or Katsaros over the last view months.

My personal highlight of the day was the Xinomavro 2007 from Argatia, a small producer from Rodochori, Naoussa. The wine is very complex with an incredible concentration.

The Goumenissa 2007 from the Aidarinis Winery is made from 30-year old vines and is a blend of 70% Xinomavro and 30% Negoska. It is very elegant in style, but has a real bite to it.

Another small producer from Goumenissa is the Tatsis Estate. Their 2007 Goumenissa showed earthy and vegetal characteristics with firm tannins.

The new Elinos Estate in Naoussa (I do like their name :) impressed me with their Naoussa Xinomavro 2007, full bodied, yet elegant.

For white wines, highlights included a 2009 Malagousia from Claudia Papayianni, with explosive exotic fruit aromas, and an elegant cool-climate style 2009 Gewurztraminer from Dio Fili. 

I will certainly stock up my own cellar with multiple cases of the Xinomavro 2007 vintage (NOT limited to the above mentioned wines), and can only recommend to anyone to keep an eye out for these wines.

It is no exception that I come across wines that are quiet, if not silent, to begin with. After half an hour or so, they slowly start to speak, then chat me up, and in the best cases end up singing to me with beautiful voices. How sad would it be to dismiss such wines as average or dull after the first few sips.

There are certain grape varieties that lack a fresh primary fruit element – Xinomavro is a good example. In many cases, these wines will be unexciting in the beginning, and only reward the drinker after having been aerated for several hours. By then they have gained depth and character. Once they have reached this stage, they keep changing their aromas for several more hours, and do not tire out easily. Unique terroir can also give birth to wines that share a similar thread. To me the red wines produced by the Alpha Estate are nearly always “slow starters” that accelerate after some time in the glass.

At some tasting events, one is able to pour the relevant wines in a decanter several hours before offering them. I see more and more Greek wineries doing this at exhibitions. I did the same for some of the wines I showed at the public tasting event I held a couple of weeks ago. Of course it can be argued that different tasting conditions now exist for different wines. However, I do find this fairer than not to cater at all for different wines. After all, no wine is the same; wine is a living organism, it evolves and changes – and every wine has a unique personality.

How should these wines then be judged? The wine critic needs to evaluate every wine under the same conditions; every bias has to be eliminated. A professional wine critic should have the ability, knowledge and experience to take the potential of a given sample into account. Exactly this is a key part of his or her job, and it is fascinating that these people are often capable of tasting and judging up to 100 wines in a few hours time. My limit before I start questioning my own judgement is about 50 wines. And even for this I need to be super concentrated, and I experience a lot of muscle tension along the way. I have high regards for the professional tasters who are able to clear this hurdle easily.

How about wine bloggers? Do they need to be as objective about reviewing a wine as the wine critic?  Josh Hermsmeyer, also known as the Pinotblogger, recently announced that he would start a new way of reviewing wines. I am fascinated by his attempt to combine objective assessment with subjective preference. He obviously uses a very time consuming approach. So far he has succeeded in publishing some very intriguing reviews. 

What about the consumer? There are many thousands of wine reviews on Snooth, Adegga and other similar sites. The conditions under which those reviews take place must vary massively. Yet, these sites are hugely successful and people use them as a resource.

I have published short reviews in the past, mainly from tasting events where I cannot spend more than 2 or 3 minutes per wine. Personally, I prefer my own notes where I have the time to become more intimate with the wines. They are honest, but more subjective. And they are still in the closet.