Xinomavro

Almost exactly one year ago we had reached red week X (2014) and I chose a wine made from the Greek grape Xinomavro.

I did this partly because I had never tried it before, which fitted my requirement for using this blog as a means of encouraging my own continuing exploration of the world's wines, and partly because finding anything that qualified as having a strong enough relationship with the letter X was very difficult.

If it was difficult last year, how much harder is it now? Very! So I hit upon a cunning plan to resolve the problem. Select the same wine!

Week X (2015) Thymiopoulos Xinomavro, Noussa. 2012. M&S £10.50

Apart from making weak jokes about the translated name of the grape, I commented a year ago that I regretted opening the wine only two years after the fruit had been plucked from the vine as there were good levels of tannin present and this suggested the wine would be capable of ageing well.

It is only a year later and this bottle is from the same vintage, but I do detect a difference. I hadn't gone back to read my notes before trying this bottle (I did consider claiming that I had deliberately returned for this purpose rather than just being stuck for how to find a qualifying X, but that would be untrue) and so it is only through reading them now that I find myself surprised by the reference to tannin. Yes, it is still there, but not so prominently that it would necessarily generate the same observation.

So I conclude that only one year is enough to soften the mouth-puckering effect of the tannin.

One of my panel of tasters (made up of anyone present for a Sunday lunch) commented that there was a licorice flavour detectable. For myself, I would be more tempted to describe it as mild tobacco leaf, but either way perhaps these ideas do illustrate some degree of in bottle development.

I will try hard to find something different for next year's red week X (2016), assuming of course I am still carrying on with this nonsense, but if I get stuck we will see if another year brings any further change. I think I will buy a bottle now and keep it in my extensive non-existent cellar, just in case.