Kir-Yianni Ramnista Vineyard Xinomavro (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2013
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Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
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Wine & Spirits
This displays xinomavro’s magical ability to be both mouth-crushingly tannic and seductively delicate at once. It works because those tannins are filled with flavors, powering the wine through a forest’s worth of truffle and dried cherry scents, while hints of leather and roses make the sides of your mouth juice up. Decant this if you open it now, and serve with something rich and fatty, like pork shanks; otherwise cellar it for ten years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Ramnista tops off this issue's vertical. It was aged for 18 months in French oak (different vineyard blocks are aged separately for the first 12 months, then blended for the last six months into the same barrels). This is the new vintage, not yet arrived, but scheduled sometime in the spring of 2017. In general, it looks like a good year in the region and so, too, here. Big and full bodied, this has plenty of fruit to balance out the tannins, but it is no surprise that it is drying on the finish and unevolved. Surprisingly lush just now, this wine is likely to close up as its power takes over. It looks lovely just now, but prepare to cellar it, not drink it.
Other Vintages
2015-
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
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.