Xinomavro (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Ξινόμαυρο , ''lit.'' 'sour black') is the principal

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

of the uplands of Naousa in the regional unit of

Imathia Imathia ( ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Central Macedonia, within the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. The capital of Imathia is the ...

, and around

Amyntaio Amyntaio (, before 1928: Σόροβιτς – ''Sorovits''; Macedonian: Суровичево, Сорович), is a town and municipality in the Florina regional unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,348, while that o ...

, in

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Xinomavro

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...

, accessed 2018-12-04. This grape is primarily cultivated in Naousa, Goumenissa, Amyntaio,

Rapsani Rapsani (Greek: Ραψάνη) is a town of the former municipal district of Kato Olympos, which is part of the municipality of Tempi in the Larissa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Rapsani is sited at an altitude of 600 meters. The location of ...

, Trikomo,

Siatista Siatista () is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Voio (muni ...

, Velventos, and, on a lesser scale, on

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

, at Ossa, Ioannina, Magnesia, Kastoria and Trikala. In 2010, the total global cultivated area was and was entirely in Greece, but by 2013 this had grown to worldwide, with some initial plantings in

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Wine regions

Red wine made from Xinomavro in the Naousa region has become one of Greece's most important and well regarded wines. The Naousa

Protected Designation of Origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

(PDO) was established in 1971 and mandates the use of 100% Xinomavro grapes. Good examples age well due to the wine's high acidity and tannin content, and can be similar enough to wines made from

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, a ...

grapes that comparisons are often made to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

's highly regarded

Barolo Barolo ( , , ; ) is a red (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines. The zone of production extends into the communes of Baro ...

. In Goumenissa the grape is often blended with Negoska to produce very fruity wines with high

alcohol levels Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'' pg 127 Oxford University Press 1996 In recent years, artificial aging of red xinomavro wines has been a topic of research for several purposes.

References

Red wine grape varieties Imathia Grape varieties of Greece {{wine-grape-stub