Xinomavro: The 'Greek Barolo' That Costs a Fraction of the Price

Xinomavro is pronounced ksee-NOH-mah-vroh.

Xinomavro (ksee-NOH-mah-vroh) is the great red wine grape of northern Greece — high-acid, firmly tannic, and so age-worthy that wine pros call it the "Greek Barolo." It's pale in the glass but intense, tasting of dried tomato, black olive, red fruit, and herbs, at a fraction of the price of the Nebbiolo wines it rivals.

If you love the idea of Barolo — structured, savory, built to age for decades — but you've seen the prices, let me hand you the secret the wine trade has been quietly hoarding: Xinomavro, the great red grape of northern Greece. It's so similar to Nebbiolo (the grape behind Barolo) that the comparison is practically a cliché, except Xinomavro costs a fraction as much. Pure underdog.

What's in a name

The name literally means "sour black" (xino = acid, mavro = black), which tells you exactly what you're getting: high acidity and dark, brooding intensity. Don't let "sour" scare you — it's the same bright acidity that makes a wine fresh, food-friendly, and capable of aging for twenty-plus years.

What it tastes like

Here's the twist that fools people: despite all that structure, Xinomavro is pale in the glass, not inky. Then it surprises you — firm, gripping tannins, a tight savory structure, and a wild aromatic mix of dried tomato, black olive, red fruit, and Mediterranean herbs. Young, it can be austere and tannic (like young Barolo). Give it a few years, or decant it, and it unfurls into something genuinely profound.

Where to find the best

The benchmark region is Naoussa, in the uplands of Macedonia in northern Greece, with Amyntaio close behind. These cool, high-altitude sites give Xinomavro the slow ripening it needs. Greece has been making wine for millennia — another ancient culture the modern market overlooks — and Naoussa is its grand-cru answer for serious red.

The Greek Barolo comparison holds tighter than taste alone. Naoussa was among the first regions Greece wrote into law, ratified as an appellation in 1971 under the framework that built the country's PDO system, and the rule it set has never softened: a red carrying the Naoussa name must be 100 percent Xinomavro. Add a single percent of anything else and the wine forfeits the name and drops to a regional Macedonia label. Barolo demands the same fidelity of Nebbiolo. Two grapes too particular to share a bottle, each given a region that exists to show what it can do standing alone. If you want Xinomavro with nothing to hide behind, this is the address.

Bottles to look for

Start with Boutari Naoussa or Thymiopoulos "Young Vines" (Apostolos Thymiopoulos is the grape's modern superstar — his Earth & Sky is the splurge). Also look for Kir-Yianni and Dalamara. Drink them with tomato-rich, herby food — lamb, moussaka, anything off the grill. Decant the serious bottles an hour ahead, and don't be afraid to cellar one.

Xinomavro is the whole Wine Underdogs thesis in a glass: Barolo-level greatness, from a country and a grape the gatekeepers can't be bothered to pronounce, at a price that feels like a mistake. A scored review will land here once I've worked through a few.

Where to buy

Disclosure: some links here are affiliate links — if you buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more You must be 21+ to buy alcohol in the United States.Wine.com is the seller: they take the payment, ship the bottle and handle returns, and what's available depends on the state you pick at checkout. I never see your order.

Greece's Barolo for a fraction of the price — and increasingly easy to find. Start with Thymiopoulos "Young Vines" Xinomavro →, see more in the best Xinomavro under $35, or browse every Xinomavro on Wine.com.

— Chris Berry

If you're switching from a famous grape

Xinomavro is a natural underdog swap. If you usually reach for Barolo or Nebbiolo, it's worth knowing — see the full set in Order This Instead.

Part of Lesser-Known Wines: 17 Obscure Grapes Worth Switching To — the full underdog-swap guide.

Explore more in the Greece regional guide — the Old World's best-value underdog.

If Xinomavro is Greece's Barolo, Agiorgitiko is its velvet glove — the country's soft, plush red, and the easiest Greek wine to love.