<table align="right" valign="top"><tr><td><img src="http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/userpix/70_Naoussa_1.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr></table>I bought this wine at Vintages for a mere $14.15 and, after having opened it this Easter weekend, must concur with the Vintages panel this time (not that I always do); their note on the wine reads: Made with the indigenous Xinomavro grape (stylistically similar to Piedmont's Nebbiolo), this version has vibrant aromas of spice, dried currant, cranberry, leather and paraffin. It is dry and assertive with good tannins still holding around the ripe fruit. It has the austerity of a fine Barolo and will reward cellar time (3-5+ years), but may also be enjoyed now with moussaka and grilled lamb. (Vintages panel, March 2006)
I made sure to decant the wine for about an hour prior to serving. 12.8% alc./vol. Medium, transparent weathered-sumac/aged-garnet colour; strong formation of legs with swirling. Aromatically reticent at first but then opening up to reveal redcurrants, leather, wood and a bit of sumac. On the palate, it's all about structure, and very much in the style of a light Barolo - Vintages was spot-on. Properly dry and austere, requiring food. The moderate alcohol level is much appreciated at the table, and the wine is exemplary with roast beef and the mushroom sauce that was prepared to go with it. I think that the oxygenation achieved via decanting did help to flesh out the tannins and open up a more velvety dimension/texture on the palate, which was felt right into the finish. The finish was a tad terse, but all in all this is a very non-internationalized wine - and I greatly enjoyed it because of this.
This style is all about restraint and austerity - qualities that are not appreciated by today's "mass palates", if you will. I am a believer in "drink what you like", but I will say that I feel that more table wines should retain this style instead of the vanilla-cough-syrup model that is all but inescapable in many table wines today (for example, we had a few low-end Italian Cabernet-Merlot blends as well on which I did not take notes; most were brazenly nouveau and unremarkable to my palate).