Naoussa Wine Country and the Rise of Greek Xinomavro

Naoussa wine, made from the Xinomavro grape on the slopes of Mount Vermio, is winning over critics and importers from Paris to Tuscany.

Wine professionals who have spent decades with Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir now taste Xinomavro and write about it. At the same time, this small, green town at the foot of the mountains is quietly becoming one of southern Europe’s most interesting wine destinations.

Why Naoussa wine is having its moment

Native Greek grapes have found their moment, because sommeliers want wines that suit food and express their origins. Xinomavro also offers the structure and ageing potential of a great Italian or Burgundian red.

Winemaker Apostolos Thymiopoulos leads the Naoussa Winegrowers and Winemakers Association. For most drinkers, he explains, Naoussa wine is still a discovery, so a poor first bottle may also be the last.

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“Nobody has money to throw away,” he notes. That is why, in his view, quality matters more than anything else. When a sommelier tastes something truly good, though, the effect reverses: “They write about it. They recommend it.”

Mount Vermio and the lie of the land

Naoussa sits about 90 kilometres west of Thessaloniki, on the eastern side of Mount Vermio, a 2,052-metre peak with two ski centres. Below lies the Imathia plain, famous for peaches and cherries.

Between plain and forest, Xinomavro vineyards climb long, narrow terraces. In 1971, Naoussa became the first Greek wine zone to gain protected status. Under PDO rules, Naoussa wine must be 100% Xinomavro.

Today, about two dozen producers farm roughly 500 hectares of Naoussa wine country. Grower Kostis Dalamaras describes the climate simply. By day, warm air rises from the plain to ripen the fruit, while cool mountain air keeps the grapes fresh at night.

A demanding red grape

Xinomavro’s name joins the Greek words for “sour” and “black”. This late-ripening red has thin but tough skin, high acidity and firm tannins, so it rarely forgives mistakes.

In the glass, Naoussa wine typically shows red cherry, strawberry, sun-dried tomato, olive and thyme. With age, an earthy, mineral edge deepens, and critics often compare it with Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir.

Local tradition links the area’s wine to Semele, the mother of Dionysus. After phylloxera destroyed the vineyards, growers replanted on resistant rootstocks. Then, in the late 1960s, Yiannis Boutaris planted a large Xinomavro vineyard at Giannakochori.

In the following decades, however, many producers blended in Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. According to Thymiopoulos, high yields were the real problem, and Merlot cost the region its foreign buyers.

Apostolos Thymiopoulos and the Decanter moment

A third-generation grower from Trilofo, Thymiopoulos studied oenology and worked in wine retail in Thessaloniki. Later, he returned to the family vineyards and released his first wine in 2005, unfined and unfiltered.

He planted 1,000 to 1,200 vines per stremma, a tenth of a hectare, so each vine fed fewer bunches. As a result, his Xinomavro gained ripe, soft tannins alongside the grape’s natural acidity.

Organic farming is also, in his words, “the peak”. Today he makes about ten Xinomavro wines, from Jeunes Vignes to Earth & Sky, plus a white Blanc de Noirs with Malagousia.

The turning point came in 2022, when Decanter named him a Rising Star. Orders followed from Mexico, Malta, Brazil and South Africa, and his wines now have more than 200 outlets in Paris alone.

Family estates to visit

Just one kilometre from the town centre, the Dalamaras family has made wine and spirits since 1840. Kostis Dalamaras studied in Burgundy before taking over in 2011.

Visitors begin in the garden overlooking organic vineyards, often with tsipouro and estate olives. The tour then passes the tanks and ageing cellar before ending in the old family distillery.

In Giannakochori, the Kelesidis family makes Naoussa wine from certified organic vines, about 10,000 bottles a year. Their Merchali vineyard honours a relative who came from Sebasteia in Pontus, and his stone house is now the winery.

The family sells its wine at Thessaloniki’s organic markets, though some bottles travel as far as Australia and the United States. Other names include Kir-Yianni, with its restaurant and events, and Boutari, founded in 1879.

Beyond the cellar door

Wineries here are mostly small and prefer visits by appointment, so book ahead and travel by car. Harvest runs from late August to October, the busiest time in Naoussa wine country.

Three kilometres from the centre, St Nicholas Grove shelters the springs of the Arapitsa among century-old plane trees. Its tavernas also serve fresh trout, and Tesseris Epoches keeps a cellar of aged Naoussa wine.

In town, the Wine and Vine Museum tells the local story. BIBON, the first specialised wine library in the country, opened in November 2025 in the Boutari family’s first home.

About 35 minutes away, the museum at Aigai, modern Vergina, holds the tomb attributed to Philip II. Closer still, Lefkadia has the Tomb of Judgement, while nearby Mieza was home to Aristotle’s School.

In February, drums fill the streets for the Genitsaroi and Boules carnival custom, one of the oldest living folk traditions in Greece. Few places pair Naoussa wine with such deep history.

Source: travel.gr

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