Oenogenesis Oenosophist Red – Oh Yes!

50% Merlot and 50% Xinomavro from Macedonia, Greece.

SRP of $40 and available for as low as $37 (Saturday Splurge). Sample submitted for review.

From the bottle:

“Ancient Greek writer Athenaeus definitively detailed the gastronomy of Greece in his great work Deipnosophistae, which loosely translates to “dinner philosophers”. Oenosophist plays on this, means “wine-wise,” and teaches the philosophy of superlative Greek winemaking.

Xinomavro (literally “acid-black”) is the most notably dominant red variety in Greece, ideally tamed by Merlot, birthing a commanding red with spectacular aromatic intensity in the nose of dark fruits, chocolate, pipe tobacco and sweet spice. Oenosophist red features a phenomenal complexity in the mouth, combining balanced acidity and a long finish. The overall production process takes 36 months from harvesting. After having meticulously matured in new French oak barrels of medium and high burn (from selected wood of 3 different forests) for 18 months and then in the bottle for 12 months, reminiscent of the nature of wisdom, Oenosophist Red evolves with age.

13.5% Alcohol”

Today is the first wine we’ll be reviewing from a range of interesting and unique selections from Eklektikon, an importer of boutique Greek wines. Lucky for us a number of these wines fall into our price range, but today we’re starting with one that does not. We previously reviewed the Grande Reserve Naoussa Boutari 2007 – A Dignified and Delicious Saturday Splurge. That wine was 100% Xinomavro (ksee-NOH-mah-vroh), a grape some call the Greek Nebbiolo, and we liked it so much we thought it worthwhile to start out our latest odyssey into Greek wine with another made from this varieety, this time blended with Merlot.

The 2008 Oenogenesis Oenosophist Red begins with aromas of sweet ripe fruit, cedar, lots of brown sugar and molasses, caramel, vanilla and sweet spice — quite an intriguing aroma! Despite the sweet notes on the bouquet this is actually a fairly dry wine when tasting that shows a lot of influence from the oak, so give it a little time to breathe. Once it opens up you’ll find a very smooth, complex, delicious wine featuring dark ripe fruit, caramel, vanilla and a little brown sugar. The finish is dry with good length. It holds up just fine on day 2 and might even be better. Words don’t really do this delicious wine justice, so find a bottle and give it a try yourself!

See a listing of local retailers selling this wine here.

Find out more about my rating system and check out the Wine Ranking to find all my reviews! You can sort by type of wine, cost, rating, etc. in the interactive database.
Like The Reverse Wine Snob on Facebook!