Stavroula Kourakou
Xinomavro
The Wine-grape Variety of Central-Western Macedonia
Xinomavro
The Wine-grape Variety of Central-Western Macedonia
INTRODUCTION
Xinómavro
is a grape variety of Central-western Macedonia, cultivation of which is
centred in the Prefecture of Imathia and specifically in the viticultural zone
of Naoussa. From there it fanned out to the surrounding areas of Amyntaio, Goumenissa,
Siatista, Velvendo and reached as far as Rapsani. In this last Community, it is
referred to by the synonym Niaoustianó, which indicates that in years gone by
cuttings brought from Naoussa were planted on the slopes of Lower Olympos.
I shall
discuss these principal areas of cultivation of Xinómavro in Part IV of this
book, after first describing in Part II the cultivar as a plant, so as to
explain on the one hand the qualitative differences of the wines of the same
type produced from this grape variety, and on the other Xinómavro’s capability
of giving different types of wines, depending on the natural environment in
which it bears fruit and the vinegrowing technique applied by the vinegrower.
What, we
may ask, is the distinctive feature of Centralwestern Macedonia on the map of
Greece? What historical memories does the land of the Macedonian kings bring to
our mind? What is the cultural heritage of modern Macedonian wineproduction? What
developments have taken place in viticulture and wine-producing in recent
times?
These are
the questions that preoccupy the friends of Xinómavro, as well as all those who
wish to learn about it in its place of origin, and one which I shall endeavour
to shed light, as succinctly as possible, in Part I and Part III respectively.
Stavroula Kourakou