I stopped by Group Kolonaki’s booth at the Gourmet Food and wine Expo recently to learn about Greek wines. And this particular wine ended up being one of my favorites of the evening. I have to admit to not knowing a lot about Greek wines, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn. The team at the booth were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the wine industry in Greece! The grape is an indigenous Greek one called Xinomavro mixed with 13% Syrah. Of course having never heard of this grape I had no preconceptions of what to expect. Dark in color with a dark berry nose. On the mid palate the wine displays some lovely bold dark berry fruits and maybe some mocha. On the medium length finish the wine displays some silky smooth tannins, lovely dryness and complexity. This is a delicious wine. I would give it an 89-90 or so. I was thoroughly impressed! The wine is not in the LCBO, but available from Group Kolonakis for $50 a bottle in cases of 6.
From Group Kolonaki’s web site:
Description
If a New World Xinomavro ever existed this would be it. Kir Yianni has managed to hold on to what intrigues us about Xinomavro and at the same time craft a wine that is nothing like what we have seen before. Diaporos has a deep red colour, almost blue, very different from the traditional Xinomavro. In the nose, the bouquet consists of ripe black fruit, plums, cigar box, black chocolate, golden tobacco, pepper. In the mouth one gets the well constructed, sculpted tannins rooted in a dense layer of ripe fruit. This is a full bodied wine, rich in ripe tannins with good acidity balanced by the quite high alcohol level. A new version of the Xinomavro grape, expressing the vineyard where it is coming from. Under proper storage conditions this wine can be aged and enjoyed for up to 10-12 years and more.
From the winery’s web site:
Analytical Data
Alcohol: 14.6 %vol pH: 3.35 Volatile acidity: 0.60 g/lt Residual sugar: 3.2 g/lt
Cellaring:
22 months in 225-lit oak casks and 6 months further ageing in bottles
Origin: Block #5 of the Yianakohori vineyard in Naous
