Like the white wines of Greece, the red wines are underappreciated and perhaps even more obscure. Xinomavro? Agiorgitiko? Hardly household names, but they are Greece’s top red varieties and well worth getting to know, as are others that are grown nowhere else.
“Outstanding quality with amazing value,” Kamal Kouiri, wine director and a managing partner in Molyvos, a leading Greek restaurant in New York, says of Greek wines in general. He’s biased, of course, but after a broad tasting of the wines, I believe he has a point.
“People in the last two, three years are looking for value,” he tells me in an interview. “They may spend $200 on a Burgundy, but for $100 I can give them something equivalent to Burgundy — with high quality and its own fingerprint.” He’s talking about restaurant prices, but if you extrapolate them down to retail, Greece offers a lot of very good wines in the $20 to $40 range, or even less.
Like the white wines, the reds are produced all over the country, from the cooler appellations on the mainland to the island of Crete in the extreme south. Most of the country’s better vineyards are influenced by their proximity to the sea and the mountains, benefiting from their cooling influences.
The greatest of Greece’s red grapes is Xinomavro, whose light color in the glass belies its power and depth, much like the Barolos of Italy’s Piedmont to which Xinomavro is often compared. For me, they can also evoke red Burgundies and other Pinot Noirs, Sicily’s Etna Rossos, and even Beaujolais in younger examples. Macedonia in northern Greece is prime Xinomavro country.
Agiorgitiko, on the other hand (also known as St. George), produces darker wines and is the most planted red variety in Greece. It’s more Bordeaux-like in character, with red and dark fruit notes, and is sometimes blended with Cabernet Sauvignon. The most important region for Agiorgitiko is Nemea in the Peloponnese.
Santorini’s white wines, made from the Assyrtiko grape in the island’s volcanic soils, are probably the best-known whites in Greece. But Santorini also produces some great red wines, including one I describe below.
So, what unifies the red wines of Greece? In the wines I tasted, I found finesse, lively acidity, moderate levels of alcohol, and good complexity, a combination that makes them a pleasure to drink and excellent food companions. Many will do well with a slight chill that will make them all the more refreshing in these dog days of summer.
As Kamal Kouiri puts it, referring to restaurants, “I always say that anybody that has a serious wine list and doesn’t have a chapter, a whole page on Greece, it’s not a complete wine list.” Based on my tastings of both the reds and whites, he has a point.
Here are seven top red wines from Greece (plus one from Cyprus):
Domaine Skouras Megas Oenos 2020
From the Nemea appellation in the Peloponnese region, this blend of 80 percent Aghiorghitiko (also spelled Agiorgitiko) and 20 percent Cabernet Sauvignon is medium-bodied with red and dark fruit notes, touches of herbs and minerals, and bright acidity. Aged in French barriques for 18 months, the wood is well integrated. It was perfect with a classic pork Milanese and its side of arugula and cherry tomatoes. A leaner alternative to Napa Valley Cabernet. The vineyard is dry farmed (without irrigation) in rocky soils.
Price: $29
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Kir-Yianni Xinomavro ‘Ramnista’ Single Vineyard 2019
When they say Xinomavro can evoke Barolo, this wine is what they mean. From the famed Naoussa region of northwest Greece, it’s an earthy wine with notes of blueberry, overripe raspberry, and braised meat. Still young and firmly tannic, it will continue to develop for some years. Try it with seared skirt steak or a mushroom risotto. A superb-value wine.
Price: $24
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Tsiakkas Winery Mouklos 2022
From the Lemesos region of southern Cyprus (the Greek-Cypriot part of the island), this wine is made from the Mavro Ambelisimo variety native to Cyprus. The grapes are grown organically on ungrafted vines — Cyprus was never affected by the phylloxera scourge — in sandy and volcanic soils. Fifty percent of the wine is made with carbonic maceration, which brings out its fruitiness, and you’ll notice a slight spritz when first poured that dissipates as you swirl the wine in the glass. There’s a chalky minerality that punctuates notes of red and black cherry and raspberry. A hint of black pepper comes out on the finish.
Price: $34
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Domaine Tatsis Xinomavro-Negoska ‘Young Vines’ 2019
This superb-value wine from Macedonia in northern Greece is a blend of 80 percent Xinamoavro and 20 percent Negoska, a northern Greek variety often blended with Xinomavro. Grown organically and biodynamically by the Tatsis brothers (Perikles and Stergios), this fruit-driven wine evokes just-picked ripe blackberries, black plum, and plum skin and reminds me of a juicy Beaujolais. With moderate tannins, it’s great with a slight chill.
Price: $18
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Gai’a Wines ‘Agiorgitiko by Gai’a’ 2022
Another standout example from Nemea in the Peloponnese, this perfectly balanced Agiorgitiko has flavors of sweet blackberry, red berries, and plum with hints of black pepper and milk chocolate. Refreshing acidity makes it a great food wine for meat and other hearty dishes.
Price: $23
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Alpha Estate Xinomavro ‘Hedgehog’ 2021
This excellent Xinomavro is from a single vineyard in Amyndeon in northwest Macedonia. With aromas and flavors of very ripe strawberry, red cherry, and sweet blueberry, there are hints of tomato leaf, tobacco, and eucalyptus. The wine was aged in new and used French oak barrels for 12 months and is softly tannic and ready to drink, though it will continue to develop in the bottle for some years. It reminded me of Barolo and Sicily’s Etna Rosso. (Also worth trying if you can find it: Alpha Estate’s Xinomavro Reserve Vieilles Vignes ‘Barba Yannis,’ another outstanding single-vineyard wine that brought to mind village-level Burgundy.)
Price: $23
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Domaine Glinavos ‘Vlahiko’ 2020
From Ioannina in northwest Greece, this is a blend of Vlahiko and Bekari, two indigenous grapes that produce a lovely soft, fruity, and spicy wine that shows both red and dark fruit notes. It’s marked by a distinctive peppery note on the nose and palate. It’s light in color and mouthfeel, with alcohol at just 12 percent, but shows character and originality.
Price: $22
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Sigalas MM 2022
This lovely wine comes from Santorini and showcases the Mavrotragano and Mandilaria grapes (hence MM), which are native to the Cyclades island chain. Bright, concentrated dark and red fruit flavors include blackberry, plum, and strawberry and are punctuated by hints of vanilla, leather, and pencil shavings. The oak aging is well integrated, and elegant tannins and lively acidity frame the fruit in this stellar value wine.
Price: $26
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